Jack Borrus, 92, passed away on April 27, 2021, at Parker at River Road Nursing Care Residence in Piscataway, N.J., surrounded by his children Amy, Janet and David Borrus. His beloved wife Adele Borrus predeceased him in 2019. They were married for 66 years.
Jack Borrus was a warm, kind and energetic man with an incredible zest for life. An avid sailor and skier, he always saw the glass half full and relished the company of others. Although he had been in declining health since suffering a stroke in September 2017, until his last days he greeted everyone with a smile and looked forward to visits from friends and family, especially his five grandchildren.
He was also a widely admired and respected lawyer. JB, as his colleagues called him, was the founding partner of Borrus, Goldin, Foley, Vignuolo, Hyman & Stahl, a 57-year-old regional law firm based in North Brunswick.
Born in New York City, he lived nearly all his life in New Jersey. Raised in Maplewood, he was the middle of three brothers. His older brother Bernard Borrus predeceased him; his younger brother Jules “Butch” Borrus lives in Little Silver, N.J.
He later settled in North Brunswick, where he and Adele raised their children. In 1985, they moved to Princeton, where they lived until his stroke. The home they and their children loved best, though, was the family’s house on Barnegat Bay in Harvey Cedars, N.J. They spent nearly 50 summers there, where they enjoyed sailing, playing tennis and entertaining family and friends on the deck that looked out on the bay and beautiful sunsets.
He was a U.S. Army veteran and served during the Korean War from 1954-56.
Jack earned a B.S. cum laude from Columbia University, his JD from Columbia Law School and a master’s degree in federal taxation from New York University. He was admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York. His law practice concentrated in litigation, business transactions, estate planning and administration, condemnation and real estate.
He served as an assistant Middlesex County prosecutor from 1964-67 and was for many years counsel to the Boards of Education of the Middlesex County Vocational Schools, North Brunswick Township, Milltown, Metuchen, Port Republic and Branchburg. In 2011, he received the Professional Lawyer of the Year Award from the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law, one of several honors he received during his long career.
In 2014, Jack was appointed chair of the Board of Directors of the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Foundation of New Brunswick. He was formerly vice chair and treasurer of the foundation, which strives to increase access to research, innovation and specialty health care services for Central New Jersey residents.
He was also treasurer and a founding board member of the Melvyn H. Motolinsky Research Foundation, which endows the Hematology Laboratory at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. For 35 years, he was also the trustee of the Dr. James J. O’Connell Fund, which provides annual substantial grants to medical research, treatment and hospital support.
He served as special counsel to the General Assembly of New Jersey, and was chairman of the Middlesex County Ethics Committee and the Middlesex County Judicial Selection Committee. He was co-chairman of the New Jersey Corporate Law Revision Commission and was a member of the New Jersey Bar Association Judicial and Prosecutors Appointment Committee. In 2013, he received the David Pavlovsky Award for outstanding service to the bar.
Jack is survived by his loving children, Amy Borrus and her husband Richard Miller, David Borrus and his wife Amy Bamforth and Janet Borrus and her husband Christopher Grove, and by his cherished grandchildren Daniel Miller, Eliana Miller, Samuel Borrus, Gabriel Bamforth and Maya Grove.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the RWJ University Hospital Foundation (1 Robert Wood Johnson Place,New Brunswick, N.J. 08901)Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Foundation: https://www.rwjbh.org/rwj-university-hospital-new-brunswick/giving/ways-to-give/
or the High Point Volunteer Fire Company Station 51 in Harvey Cedars (P.O. Box 3219 Harvey Cedars, N.J. 08008) http://www.hpvfc.com/
Private funeral arrangements are in the care of the Crabiel Parkwest Funeral Chapel, New Brunswick, NJ.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Mr. Jack Borrus, please visit our flower store.
Jack Borrus was a warm, kind and energetic man with an incredible zest for life. An avid sailor and skier, he always saw the glass half full and relished the company of others. Although he had been in declining health since suffering a stroke in September 2017, until his last days he greeted everyone with a smile and looked forward to visits from friends and family, especially his five grandchildren.
He was also a widely admired and respected lawyer. JB, as his colleagues called him, was the founding partner of Borrus, Goldin, Foley, Vignuolo, Hyman & Stahl, a 57-year-old regional law firm based in North Brunswick.
Born in New York City, he lived nearly all his life in New Jersey. Raised in Maplewood, he was the middle of three brothers. His older brother Bernard Borrus predeceased him; his younger brother Jules “Butch” Borrus lives in Little Silver, N.J.
He later settled in North Brunswick, where he and Adele raised their children. In 1985, they moved to Princeton, where they lived until his stroke. The home they and their children loved best, though, was the family’s house on Barnegat Bay in Harvey Cedars, N.J. They spent nearly 50 summers there, where they enjoyed sailing, playing tennis and entertaining family and friends on the deck that looked out on the bay and beautiful sunsets.
He was a U.S. Army veteran and served during the Korean War from 1954-56.
Jack earned a B.S. cum laude from Columbia University, his JD from Columbia Law School and a master’s degree in federal taxation from New York University. He was admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York. His law practice concentrated in litigation, business transactions, estate planning and administration, condemnation and real estate.
He served as an assistant Middlesex County prosecutor from 1964-67 and was for many years counsel to the Boards of Education of the Middlesex County Vocational Schools, North Brunswick Township, Milltown, Metuchen, Port Republic and Branchburg. In 2011, he received the Professional Lawyer of the Year Award from the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law, one of several honors he received during his long career.
In 2014, Jack was appointed chair of the Board of Directors of the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Foundation of New Brunswick. He was formerly vice chair and treasurer of the foundation, which strives to increase access to research, innovation and specialty health care services for Central New Jersey residents.
He was also treasurer and a founding board member of the Melvyn H. Motolinsky Research Foundation, which endows the Hematology Laboratory at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. For 35 years, he was also the trustee of the Dr. James J. O’Connell Fund, which provides annual substantial grants to medical research, treatment and hospital support.
He served as special counsel to the General Assembly of New Jersey, and was chairman of the Middlesex County Ethics Committee and the Middlesex County Judicial Selection Committee. He was co-chairman of the New Jersey Corporate Law Revision Commission and was a member of the New Jersey Bar Association Judicial and Prosecutors Appointment Committee. In 2013, he received the David Pavlovsky Award for outstanding service to the bar.
Jack is survived by his loving children, Amy Borrus and her husband Richard Miller, David Borrus and his wife Amy Bamforth and Janet Borrus and her husband Christopher Grove, and by his cherished grandchildren Daniel Miller, Eliana Miller, Samuel Borrus, Gabriel Bamforth and Maya Grove.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the RWJ University Hospital Foundation (1 Robert Wood Johnson Place,New Brunswick, N.J. 08901)Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Foundation: https://www.rwjbh.org/rwj-university-hospital-new-brunswick/giving/ways-to-give/
or the High Point Volunteer Fire Company Station 51 in Harvey Cedars (P.O. Box 3219 Harvey Cedars, N.J. 08008) http://www.hpvfc.com/
Private funeral arrangements are in the care of the Crabiel Parkwest Funeral Chapel, New Brunswick, NJ.
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