George James Borrelli

George James Borrelli passed on October 10, 2026, at the age of 99. George J. Borrelli was born August 24, 1927, in Rochester, New York, the son of Gaetano and Anna Pizzoli Borrelli. He had three older siblings, Pasquale Borrelli, who died in 1992; Mary Borrelli Peccolo, who resides in San. Diego, CA., and M. James Borrelli, a resident of Boynton Beach, FL.

Gaetano and Anna Pizzoli Borrelli were Italian immigrants. He was born March 13, 1894, in Naples, Italy, and came to the United States in 1908. Gaetano worked 40 years as a weaver for the Vogt Manufacturing Co. of Rochester, a supplier of interior fabrics for the auto industry. He died January 19, 1976, at the age of 82 in the Sheridan Nursing Home, Town of Tonawanda, New York.

Anna Pizzoli Borrelli was born in 1896 in Civitella Casanova in the Province of Abruzzi in Italy. She emigrated to the U.S. and married Gaetano in Rochester, New York, where they made their home and raised four children. Anna Borrelli died October 9, 1943, at the age of 47 in Rochester after suffering a stroke.

George Borrelli graduated from P.S. 30 and Edison Technical High School in Rochester. He played short stop on the high school baseball team. After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1945. He served as a fireman on LST 905, as the vessel went through a decommissioning process on the West Coast.

In 1946, upon his discharge from the Navy, George enrolled at the University of Rochester where he studied liberal arts for two years. In 1948, he transferred to Syracuse University where he earned a BA degree in 1950 with a duel major in journalism and political science.

George’s first media job was with the Lowville (NY) Leader, a weekly newspaper in Lewis County in northern New York, where he earned $30 a week writing sports, editorials and general news. After 3 months, he moved to the Newark (NY) Courier-Gazette in Wayne County, a weekly, that paid him $60 a week. In Newark, he wrote general news stories, editorials and headlines and did layout.

Nine months later, George moved to the Syracuse Post-Standard, where he earned $80 a week and worked as a general assignment and court reporter. George joined the Buffalo Courier Express (now Defunct) in 1953 at a salary of $120 a week. At the C-E, he served as a general assignment, federal beat, City Hall and political reporter. It was at the C-E that he met his wife, Mary Victoria Rowell, a reporter. They were married August 18, 1956, in Holy Rosary Church Rochester, New York.

George and Mary had two children, Thomas George Borrelli, a member of the sports department at the Buffalo News, and Dr. George William Borrelli, an emergency medicine physician in the Chicago area.

While at the Courier-Express, George was for several years a part-time correspondent (stringer) for the New York Times.

George left the Courier-Express in 1961 to work in the public relations division of the Rumrill Co., an advertising agency in Rochester at a starting salary of $10,000 a year. He was assigned to the Eastman Kodak account and did news releases and stories on cameras, films and other photographic products. He also helped with PR for the All-America college football team Kodak sponsored.

George returned to journalism in 1963 with the Buffalo News, where he succeeded the late Jack Meddoff as political reporter. During his nearly 30 years at the News, he covered local, state and national politics and wrote a weekly political column. In addition he was a part-time correspondent (stringer) for Time Magazine for more than 25 years.

As the News political reporter, George Borrelli attended 14 national presidential nominating conventions and 16 New York state gubernatorial nominating conventions. In Buffalo, he covered eight elections for mayor and nine elections for Erie County executive.

He visited the White House twice with a small group of regional political reporters, once during the presidency of Democrat Jimmy Carter and later during the administration of Republican George H.W. Bush. In each case, he and the other reporters were given the opportunity to meet with and question the president.

Borrelli was a past president of the Buffalo Press Club and of the Capitol Hill Club of Western New York. He retired from the News in 1992 and later did free lance writing for the state court system in the Eighth Judicial District and for the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court, Fourth Department.

Family and friends will gather Friday, October 30, 2026 at 11:30 AM at Good Shepherd Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum, located at 16201 104th Ave, Orland Park, IL 60467 for Entombment of Ashes.