Dale M. Borman

Dale Borman, a man as complex as the elevators he fixed, has taken his final ride to the great beyond on August 28, 2023.

Dale was the kind of guy who could fix a malfunctioning elevator with one hand while holding a beer in the other. A wizard with machinery and electricity, he was the Sherlock Holmes of elevators-minus the British accent and the pipe. For example, the pipe was replaced by cigarettes, and the violin solos by the strumming of beer cans and a guitar.

Dale attended Colerain High School. He followed his father, Bill Borman, into the elevator industry where he began his career at Dover Elevators. Dale didn't always earn and keep others respect but one thing everyone respected him for was his mechanical abilities with elevators. All in he had a 40 year career.

He leaves behind a family that's as mixed as a cocktail he'd enjoy- a wife, Susan, who's a saint for reasons we all understand; a daughter, Michelle Bothe, a son-in-law Wayne, a 101-year-old mother Helen, his ex-wife Cathy, and a brother Ted. Dale was also the step-father of Michelle & Melissa.

Ah, Dale's love for the beach! It was the only place where he felt as free as the ocean waves, probably because it was socially acceptable to have a beer at 10 a.m. there.

But let's not sugarcoat the sandcastle-Dale was a tough man to love. Dale was a paradox-a life of the party, moments of sweetness, generous with a wonderful laugh but also offensive, abusive, demeaning, and cruel. He could make you laugh until you cried, or just straight-up make you cry- sometimes on the same day.

After his stroke in 2014, he became a shadow of his former self. His health deteriorated faster than a can of beer disappeared at Aunt Gail's fourth of July parties, and his quality of life took a nosedive. In a way, his passing might just be the universe's way of giving him, and those around him, a break.

So, here's to Dale, a man as flawed as he was funny, as complicated as the machinery he mastered. He was a son of a gun and a tender soul all rolled into one. And while we may not miss his darker days, we'll raise a glass to the moments when he lit up our lives-preferably a glass filled with something as strong and complex as the man himself.

There will be no services.

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