Helen Ann Borchardt

Helen Ann Borchardt passed away peacefully with family at her bedside on January 29, 2025. Helen was born in Mt. Vernon, Washington, on June 5, 1941, and was preceded in death by her parents, Simon Groot and Virginia Conn Groot, her brother, Roger, and his wife, Ellen.

Helen graduated from William Adams High School in 1958 in Alice, Texas, and then obtained an RN degree from Baptist Memorial School of Nursing in San Antonio in 1961. She returned to Alice and married her high school sweetheart, Marvin Edwin Borchardt, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in 1961. The couple spent the next several decades of their life together raising their family in Alice. Helen eventually left her nursing career to work at her mother’s travel agency, Travel Wise, Inc.

Helen was noted for her energy and love of engagement with others. She was always the first arrive to help her family members and friends. Throughout the years, Helen maintained a deep connection with her family’s roots in the Netherlands. She was especially devoted to her aunt, Helen Groot, who lived in Amsterdam.

Upon retirement, Helen and Marvin moved to Corpus Christi where they spent many active years pursuing their mutual interest in traveling throughout the world. They also belonged to the Corpus Christi Antique Club. A highlight for Helen was being interviewed on PBS’s Antiques Roadshow. Helen was a long-term member of Emilie’s TLC quilting group at Trinity Our Savior Lutheran Church, helping to make hundreds of quilts for Lutheran World Relief.

During their 63-year marriage, Helen and Marvin took great joy in the arrival of their children, grandchildren, great-grandchild, and numerous nieces and nephews. Survivors include her sons, Randy (Sarah) Borchardt of Rockport, Texas, and Greg (Shelly) Borchardt of Moseley, Virginia, and a daughter, Laura Borchardt of Corpus Christi, Texas. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Emily and Benjamin Borchardt, Macy and Brittany Borchardt, Cody and Josh Morrisey, and a great-granddaughter, Penelope Morrisey.

The family wishes to express thanks to all of her friends and the staff at Brookdale Corpus Christi for their thoughtfulness and support at this time, as well as her church family and her beloved lifelong friend, Johanna Kalinec.

Visitation will be held at 5 PM until 7 PM on Monday, February 17, 2025, at Memory Gardens Funeral Home. A Celebration of Life will begin at 9:30AM on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, at Trinity Our Savior Lutheran Church, 808 Louisiana Ave., Corpus Christi, Texas. Interment will follow at Memory Gardens Cemetery.