In life, we seldom take a moment to sit back and look at what is most important. On this site, we try and motivate, push and inspire our readers to acquire greatness. I myself have much to do to achieve greatness. But there is one man in my life that has taught me how to be great. He has taught me because he was a great man. He was my Father. He has taught me the true principles of being young and prosperous which then lead to the greatness that he exemplified.
Hard-work coupled with love exemplified him
Of all the things my father was and wasn’t, selfish was not one of them. My father has worked harder than any man I have ever known. Since the age of 16 he has started businesses and worked for himself. Victor Borcherds was not a highly educated man in the academic sense. In fact, he suffered greatly from dyslexia and couldn’t even spell my name. I actually can’t remember the last time where he got my name right on the first try as he almost always called me by my brother’s name. He had disadvantages, he had trials, he had his reasons not to succeed, but he never gave up trying. 
Victor Borcherds exemplified everything I hope to be one day. One day I was talking with him about some of his accomplishments. We talked over his building and owning Seven Peaks Resort and Water Park. This was a hotel, golf course, and water park in Provo UT that still exists today. I was quite young when bad circumstances and luck lead to us having to walk away from all of those businesses, but I asked my dad what it was like to drive a Rolls Royce, to live in a 23,000 SQ FT home with an indoor swimming pool on over 100 acres of land and being one of the biggest business men in Utah. Do you know what he said to me? He said, “I don’t really care about what I had, have or will have. All that matters to me is that my kids have a better life than I did.” Never once in his life did he think about anyone but his kids and his grand kids.
Victor Borcherds is survived by his wife, my mother Suzanne, 5 children, and 8 grandchildren, one of which he never got to meet. His life was cut a week short of meeting his newest granddaughter. Victor left this world almost as he came in, with relatively no possessions to his name. He had gone from completely broke to millionaire more times than I can count and in the end, he ended up with no material possessions, nothing to leave in his will. But I have learned that he has left a much greater impact on the world around him than anything money could buy. He taught me to love others, work hard, and to never be selfish. He demonstrated this as his last concern in this life was that the man that murdered him, leave his wife alone now that he was dead. Even in the end, he just wanted the best for those he loved.
Words cannot describe the feelings in my heart. There is nothing I can say to give complete justice to his memory. I just hope that his memory and his acts will never go forgotten. That like me, you all will remember the ones that have impacted you the most and that you will do your best to not settle for less in this life. My father didn’t. He died serving others.
Are we living to the highest standards? Are we honoring the memories of those that have stood before us? I hope we are…. Please remember my father.
Because of the many requests we ask that in lieu of sending flowers to the family, donations can be made in memory of Victor Borcherds to the LDS Perpetual Education Fund at 50 E North Temple 8th Floor Salt Lake City UT 84150-1501. We thank you in advance for any donation you may make. We chose this as the donation location because of Victor’s love for education. He truly loved it when anyone chose to progress in life through learning.
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