Hometown Hero: Borgreen’s passion helps kids

Editor’s note: Hometown Heroes is a monthly Tribune series dedicated to honoring those who have made a difference in the lives of others. Each person featured is responsible for nominating another person — not related to them — who has inspired them in some way.

John Borgreen’s plan 50 years ago was to become a school counselor. Then life got in the way.

Through the twists and turns of life, though, Borgreen has found a way to help countless kids in the community find their hobbies and passion through areas that interest him, too.

“There are really good kids out there,” he said.

It’s Borgreen’s commitment to children, along with his passion for preserving Montana’s public spaces, that prompted Kathy Van Tighem to nominate him as her Hometown Hero for the Tribune.

“John’s a people asset builder. He goes out of his way to make people feel special,” she said. “He’s connected to things that are really important to me. I love that John wants to make sure (public land) is there for the next generation.”

Born and raised on Smelter Hill, Borgreen grew up spending summers at the family cabin in the Little Belt Mountains and playing hockey in the winter at the pond on Smelter Hill. When his dad attended Cascade County Wildlife Association meetings, Borgreen was soaking up the conversations about conservation at 5 and 6 years old.

After graduating from Great Falls High, Borgreen joined the U.S. Navy and served three years in the South Pacific, between the time the Korean War ended and the Vietnam War started. He enrolled in classes at the College of Great Falls (now the University of Great Falls).

But his career plans shifted when his father — the man who taught him about the great outdoors and put the first hockey puck in his hands — died suddenly. Borgreen — 21 and the oldest of four siblings — needed to help out his mom. His other siblings were 17, 9 and 6. He took two jobs.

He received an apprenticeship with Electric City Printing, which lead into a 35-year career working as a pressman at the Great Falls Tribune. He also started out working as a guard for an armored motor service company. He and his first wife had one daughter, Karrie, born in 1963.

He and his wife, Julie, married in 1980, and she had two young children, Jenny and David, from her first marriage, who became his stepchildren.

When he wasn’t working as a pressman, Borgreen was either playing hockey or coaching his stepson for the reformed Great Falls Americans hockey team. He helped establish the Casey Cup hockey tournament, which brings teams in every year to compete in Great Falls.

After retiring as a pressman, Borgreen went to work as a case manager then a consultant working with disabled farmers to maintain their farms. But it appears that in his post-retirement life, he’s found his calling.

One summer, Van Tighem recruited her dad’s longtime friend to help out at Camp Francis, a bereavement camp for children. It had been a few years since Jenny, his stepdaughter, died after her car was caught up in a flash flood in New Mexico. He was acting as a volunteer at Camp Francis, but found the kids inspiring. It was likely the first time he’d begun to process the grief over losing his father and helped the rest of his family grieve Jenny’s death, too.

He kept coming back at Van Tighem’s request and is considered a “grandpa” to several of the kids who attend the camp.

His involvement with youth programming doesn’t stop there. He’s been a longtime member of the Russell Country Sportsmen group and has advocated with members of the Montana Wildlife Federation and the Montana Sportsmen Alliance to keep public land and stream access open to the public.

A few years ago, the Russell Country group started a youth hunting program. Borgreen said they take kids who wouldn’t otherwise have the resources to do it on hunting trips. Borgreen said the group isn’t just teaching kids about how to kill an animal. They teach them about hunting ethically, respecting public and private land partnerships and more.

He estimates he’s taken 15 to 20 kids on hunting trips and not always do the kids come home with a deer or elk. But they come home smiling anyway.

“It’s fantastic,” Borgreen said. “It’s really about life. You deal with the successes and failure.”

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Kristen Cates at 791-1463. Follow her on Twitter @GFTrib_KCates.

A history of Hometown Heroes

•Schelli Bolta (November)

•Bryan Martin (December)

•Michelle Chenoweth (January)

•Trina Knoche (February)

•Joan Redeen (March)

•Marilyn Hall (April)

•Jerry Smith (May)

•Kathy Van Tighem (June)

•John Borgreen (July)

•Phillip Caldwell (to come in August)