Longtime rancher 'Dutch' Borda dies

By Geoff dornan

Appeal Capitol Bureau

Raymond "Dutch" Borda spent his life in the hills surrounding Carson City and the Gardnerville area, carrying on the family heritage as a sheep rancher until well into the 1990s.

Borda died Thursday at his Carson City home. He was 83.

"He started with the family sheep business right after high school," said his son Tom. "His brother Pete worked alongside him for most of those years.

They wintered the herd at the family ranch in Dayton, but trailed the sheep all the way from the Pine Nuts to Pickel Meadow, Sonora Pass and back to Carson Valley during the summer.

"He and his brother, mostly they kept each other going. They were the two toughest guys I ever met," said Tom Borda.

As an example, Borda said his father had knee-replacement surgery in the 1980s, but that "he wore it out walking." He said his father was well into his 70s when Pete died. That and flooding that washed away the corrals at their sheep ranch in Dayton "kind of did us in in 1997."

Dutch Borda was born in Minden to Ramon and Gorgonia Borda on July 17, 1921. His father moved to the Carson City area from Spain's Basque country, and bought property off of Kings Canyon. Borda's mother ran the East Fork Hotel in Gardnerville until her death in the 1980s.

The brothers eventually sold the Kings Canyon land through the Nature Conservancy in a deal which Tom Borda said kept the land in one piece and put it under control of the Forestry Division as an historic sheep camp.

Borda is survived by his wife of 60 years, Eileen, of Carson City; daughter and son-in law Terri and John Shier of Long Beach, Calif.; son and daughter-in law Tom and Sue of Carson City; son Paul of Sparks; sisters Helen Oxoby of Carson City and Juanita Sommers of Stateline; and brother John of Carson City. He has five grandchildren: Stephanie, Jessica and Matthew Borda and Samantha and Shannon Shier.

In addition to his brother Pete, he was preceded in death by brother Bert, in 1997, sister Marie Corda in 1991 and daughter Lucy Anne Sikes in 1975.

Visitation is 6-8 p.m. tonight at Walton's Chapel in Carson City. A rosary will be said at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church, followed by a funeral Mass at 11 a.m.

Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at nevadaappeal@sbcglobal.net or 687-8750.