Borden Makepeace

Borden Makepeace – a fixture at the Matecumbe United Methodist Church…. he’s the man that first greets you with his friendly smile, handing you the bulletin, as you enter the church on Sunday morning.  Now let’s get to know him.

 George Borden Makepeace II, was born June 11, 1934.  He was named after his father who went by George, so Borden was always known by his middle name. 

 Borden spent his first four years in Thompson CT.  According to Borden… this little town of Thompson is along the shores of Lake Char­gogg­a­gogg­man­chaugg­a­gogg­chau­bun­a­gung­a­maugg… famous because it has the longest name of any place in the United States…. 45 letters and 14 syllables!

 In 1938 the family moved to the high bluff behind the town of Tiverton, Rhode Island.  It is there that Borden had his very first experience with the fury of a hurricane.  While Borden was only four years old, he remembers in detail that storm, one of the deadliest and most destructive hurricanes to ever strike Long Island, New York, and New England. The town was flooded but the Makepeace family lived on the bluff where they experienced minimal damage to their home.

 During World War II, the Makepeace family lived near several military bases. Borden had four years of learning challenges as his classmates were usually the children of military families who typically spent three months in school and then when the father completed training and was shipped overseas, the kids moved away and an all new group of students arrived, and a new teacher… not the ideal environment for learning.

 It was in 1949 when Borden’s father was between jobs that the family traveled to the Florida Keys for a visit.  Borden’s mother, Edna, was the daughter of Ernest Arnold, prosperous owner of the huge Arnold’s Lonsdale Bakery in Lincoln, RI.  Ernest owned a vacation home in the Florida Keys that he built in 1937. Can you imagine a vacation home in the Keys back then… before air conditioning and mosquito control!

  The Makepeace family fell in love with this island community.  They held a family get-together to discuss a move to the Keys with 15 year-old Borden and younger sister Judith having a say in the decision.   Together the family agreed they wanted to make the Florida Keys their home.

 The next phase of Borden’s education was attending school in the front section of what is now the Islamorada Library. Ferran Pinder taught 6th through 9th grade and Katherine Albury taught 1st thru 5th.  Borden remembers that the Islamorada school had 75 students… 70 of them were blood relatives of one of the two teachers! He was one of five “outsiders.” 

 The school bus was a GMC Suburban with a bench seat for the driver and a couple kids in the front and three bench seats in the back so the “bus” could hold 12 to 15 kids.  Borden commented that it was lucky kids back then were skinny so they’d all fit.  The bus driver for years was Evenette Pinder Stone (Alma Pinder Dalton’s aunt).

 In 1951 Coral Shores School opened for grades 1 through 11. The following year grade 12 was added.  But Borden didn’t graduate from Coral Shores.  Because they didn’t offer some of the classes that interested him, he took a Greyhound bus to Miami and attended Miami Jackson.  The school arranged room and board for him so he could graduate in June 1953.  He graduated in the top 1/3 of his class in spite of all of the educational challenges he faced throughout his school years, including learning to compensate for dyslexia. To this day he claims he can read backwards as well as forward.

 Borden attended the University of Florida for several years but soon ran out of money.  Now it was time for real life as an adult – finding a job and a career.  Borden returned to the Keys and went to work for Alonzo Cothran, on a dredge boat at Duck Key.    Alonzo kept crews busy three shifts a day, rotating weekly.  Borden’s boss at that time was Warren “Bones” Russell… Rich Russell’s father. 

 After a year or so, Borden went to Miami looking for work and got a job selling typewriters door to door.  He spent a short stint in the Army and then returned to the Keys.  He was offered a job selling office equipment in Marathon.  It didn’t take Borden long to decide that he would be better off doing it his way, so with $100 and two typewriters, he went into business for himself.  And thus Makepeace Office Equipment was born!

 In June of 1960 Borden bought a property and opened his own store across from the airport in Marathon. And then Hurricane Donna hit in September and Borden and his wife returned home to a vacant lot, with both store and home completely destroyed.  All their personal possessions were gone, including the family photographs.

 Borden and his pregnant wife lived in a 15’ trailer for a few months and then were able to buy a storm damaged home for just $10,000… with nothing down.  It took loads of manual labor, but they fixed up the house with the help of a wheel barrel, shovels and water hose.

 Two sons were added to the family: George Borden III (better known as G.B.) and Carl Ernest.  Beginning when the boys were 6 and 9 years old, Borden faced the extreme challenge of being a single father, raising the boys while still expanding his office equipment business to pay the bills and provide a good life for the three of them.  It was certainly “no walk in the park” according to Borden, but how proud he is that the boys turned out to be so special.  Now decades later, Borden has four grandsons and two great grandsons!

 In 1979 Borden was still growing his business and his boys. He found a great location just north of the Marathon Airport where he designed and built a 3000 sq ft two story building to house his thriving office equipment business.  Because Borden knew first-hand the devastation storms can cause, it was a bunker of a building.

By the turn of the century Borden had successful stores in Marathon and Islamorada, always providing for the unique needs of his many loyal customers.  But as Borden approached 70 years of age, his life took another twist.  Borden Makepeace found and married the woman dreams are made of… Johanna… born and raised in Germany in the Hitler era.  He retired from business and adored being able to spend his time with Johanna. 

 Married in 2003, Borden and Johanna had the perfect marriage… they worshipped each other.  And it took no time at all for Borden’s friends and family to fall in love with Johanna too.  What a lady!

Borden and Johanna always coordinated each other’s look when they dressed for Sunday church services… making certain they were wearing the same colors. 

 Johanna loved to entertain… and Borden loved to help, usually fixing part of the meal.  They did everything together.

 But then tragedy struck.  In 2011, Johanna was hit by a distracted driver while walking the dog. She was on life support for several weeks.  Making the decision to discontinue the life support, at the recommendation of doctors, was the most heart-wrenching decision Borden ever had to make. 

 Borden is a student of the Bible.  One of his favorite passages: “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten.”   Perhaps that gives Borden hope and faith and keeps him smiling so genuinely.

 So when you see Borden and his smile know that this is one special man who has overcome many challenges in his life but has the strength to face each tomorrow with hope, faith, and amazing memories.  Always with that smile.