Posted on 11/20/2005 2:10:53 PM PST by Dr. Scarpetta
The funeral service was led by elders from Monterey Chapel in Leola, where the Bordens worshipped and where Mike Borden was an elder and Sunday school teacher.
None of the five children spoke during the service. They appeared drawn but composed, even near the end of two hours of greeting mourners.
The deaths of Mike and Cathy Borden were a tragedy.
But, Rex Trogden said Saturday, “I’d like to introduce you to the word ‘triumph.’ ”
A hard word to speak when standing on a stage behind two closed caskets, with five orphaned children in the front row, yet one, the Bordens’ friends said at their funeral service, that is integral to their lives and their faith.
“They risked their lives together,” Trogden, a pastor who knew the Bordens in Charlotte, N.C., said. “Mike and Cathy were willing not only to risk their lives but to lay down their lives.
“And they did so ... together.”
Before a gathering of at least 500 in Lancaster Bible College’s Good Shepherd Chapel, the Bordens, who were shot to death last Sunday, were memorialized in a funeral service with a strongly evangelistic tone.
That was intentional, Trogden said: The Bordens’ children knew their parents would want the gospel message to be proclaimed.
David Ludwig, the 18-year-old boyfriend of the Bordens’ 14-year-old daughter Kara, has been charged with the killings at the family’s Warwick Township home.
Kara Borden, wearing a light-colored sweater, sat with her four siblings during the funeral.
Afterward, the children and other family members attended a graveside service at Landis Valley Mennonite Cemetery.
Trogden referred to the funeral as a “homegoing to be with the Lord.”
“They loved you so much,” he said, speaking to the Borden children, “and cared for you so well, and prayed for you.”
Echoes of tragedy
Television cameras and still photographers were barred from the LBC campus Saturday, although reporters without cameras were permitted to attend; the funeral was open to the public.
Cameramen were sent to a “media area” at the far end of the Manheim Township campus.
One person who attended a Wednesday service for the Bordens at Monterey Chapel said friends had noted that the oldest son, James, was bringing his girlfriend home for Thanksgiving to meet his parents, and the second son, Justin, had recently returned from serving in Iraq.
The other two children, Katelyn, 15, and David, 11, were at home last Sunday morning when, according to police, David Ludwig pulled out a .40-caliber handgun and shot first Mike Borden and then Cathy.
Police have said Ludwig was summoned to the house after the Bordens discovered he had brought Kara home after what they thought was a sleepover at a friend’s house. The parents apparently disapproved of the relationship, at least partly because of the age difference.
Ludwig is charged with abducting Kara after the shootings, triggering the issuance of an Amber Alert. The two were finally caught in Indiana after Ludwig crashed his Volkswagen Jetta into a tree during a police pursuit.
Saturday, the funeral included only fleeting references to the tragedy.
“I see the compassion of Mike and Cathy in Kara,” said Bill Bradford, who delivered the message. “Kara was able to reach out to touch some of the most unlovely people.”
Focus on triumph
Instead, the Bordens’ friends talked about Mike and Cathy.
Trogden compared them to Aquila and Priscilla, a husband and wife mentioned in the New Testament. Three times they’re listed as Aquila and Priscilla and three times as Priscilla and Aquila.
“Equal billing,” Trogden said. “It’s that way, isn’t it? The two of them were together in everything.”
Mike was “a bit of a perfectionist,” said Bradford. “He wouldn’t preach a sermon until every I was dotted and every T was crossed.”
Cathy had the same perfectionist streak, Bradford said.
Both were “mighty warriors of prayer”: “If you were in Mike Borden’s Palm Pilot, you were prayed for.”
Mrs. Borden had a twin, Cindy. “Bookends,” Bradford said.
And, because they both spoke with Southern accents, “stereo bookends.”
Mike had a “wonderfully dry sense of humor,” Trogden said. One Christmas, Cathy wanted the biggest tree they could find to best display all the family ornaments. But the tree was so big that it had to be trimmed before it would fit into the house.
For Christmas, Mike gave Cathy a crystal snowman with an inscription: “Room for one more ornament.”
Mike Borden was vice president and general manager of the Digital Publishing Services Division of Cadmus Communications in Ephrata. Cathy Borden was a homemaker who home-schooled the three youngest children.
They dated in high school in Hannibal, Mo. Cathy earned a bachelor’s degree in special education and Mike an associate’s degree in graphic design, both from Northeast Missouri State University. They were married in 1977.
Both were 50 when they died.
Cathy Borden had been attending weekly Change of Pace Bible studies at Lancaster Alliance Church, sponsored by Friendship Foundation, since the family moved to Lancaster in 1996.
Dona Fisher, head of Friendship Foundation, said Thursday that Mrs. Borden was “just a joy. When she walked in, she was just so happy.”
The group offers a program for homeschoolers, so the three children accompanied their mother. Change of Pace participants told Fisher that Kara was “so much fun. The kids just loved her.”
Michael Borden was a “spiritual leader” in his home, Fisher said: “He confronted evil.
“... It’s a real loss for us.”
‘Not the end’
Most importantly, the Bordens’ friends said, both of them loved Jesus.
One Bible verse printed in Saturday’s program, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” from the book of Joshua, was taken from a plaque in the Bordens’ home.
The Bordens went with Bradford to see “The Passion of the Christ” at the theater two years ago. “We all shared the same hanky,” Bradford remembered. Afterward, Cathy said, “It never dawned on me how much somebody was willing to do on my behalf.”
“It’s difficult for us to say goodbye,” Bradford said in his benediction. “It should be easy to look forward to a time when we can say, ‘Welcome home.’ ”
He quoted Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted,” and John 16:22, “Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.”
“This,” Rex Trogden said, “is not the end.”
My prayers are with the Borden children this evening, and with all who mourn for this couple that was so brutally slain, that the Lord will bring them comfort and strength.
Sometimes parents can be wrong...which seems to be the case with you and your husband...and then sometimes the parents were right, which in my case, was true...I was trying to date really 'bad boys'...they just attacted me for some reason...the sweet, good boys just did nothing for me...all I know is, ,my parents had their hands full with me...I was a real stinker and a real worry to them for a few years...but as I aged, even just a few years, I realized that they were right and I was wrong, and thank goodness, they did not let me have my way, when they thought it was not in my best interest...
I am glad tho, ,that your mom got to see you and your husband before you married, and I am sure it relieved her mind, to see you both so happy...
You would have expected some crying from those kids. One thing for sure, their lives will change. They had a nice house, but that will get sold.
I'm not buying this for a minute.
From past stories like this, an 18 yr old boy would have likely just wanted to run off with her.
When it gets this nuts, the girl instigates it.
That's how I'd bet. I think the evidence will confirm it.
The boy is going to do 25-Life, and the girl gets a pass.
--Travis--
My dad also, has gone on to be with the Lord, and I sure do miss him...he was a fine man, who adored his children, and tried to make sure that we grew up well taken care of and well protected...and dad made sure that protecting me, meant carefully screening any date or boyfriend I had...
I remember one time, when one of my current boyfriends came to the house, rang the bell, and I scurried to run down the stairs and answer the door...dad stopped me dead in my tracks, and said he would handle things...he went down the stairs, had a few words with my boyfriend, and that was the last time I ever did see that boyfriend...to this day, I do not know what my dad said to him, but it was enough to keep this boy away from me...
Thanks goodness for the protection of loving dads...
Thanks for the ping. I was glad to read the account of their memorial service.
I wonder if they were freepers. Has anyone noticed someone missing?
hmmmmm good question!
I remember those days well. Studies have shown that we live longer if we try to "chill."
Except that David Ludwig had made a video planning to murder people with his friend.
I'm guessing, but I think he means she was drawn to problem people. 2 of my sons are like that. The more troubled someone is the better:') Kids like this can reach and evangelize where others can't. Sounds wonderful huh? When the hormones kicked in, though.... I suspect this girl saw a troubled young man and reached out to him and the rest is history. These "special" kids , have to be watched really closely. They have no fear and are extremely accepting.
I can only speak about how my younger children reacted when their oldest sister died. They were very composed. They were in total numbed shock.
The grief and pain was overridden by the unbelievability of it all. It just seemed like a dream to them, that they were moving through, that wasn't real.
After a few weeks has passed, the symptoms started showing. One son couldn't get through the usual track team workout without vomting uncontrollably, and wanted to quit the team, and hole up in his bedroom. His coach, who knew him well, as he was his history teacher as well, (very small school), told him to keep running and keep throwing up, that this was a natural reaction to a horrible loss, and that it would get better.
My youngest didn't cry for years. She was the closest to her oldest sister, who sympathized so with her for having two older brothers always teasing her. But, when she did, again, it was something at school that triggered it, and her teachers were there to hold her, and tell her it was ok, that it was time to stop trying to be so brave.
Children do not always grieve in "sociably acceptable ways". My son, who was closest in age to my daughter, never cried. He just went on an eight year drinking binge, having 3 serious auto accidents, until he got some counseling, and joined AA.
Let's cut these poor kids some slack. They have a hard and lonely road ahead, all uphill and rocky. They are going to walk "through the slough of despond", and need our prayers.
Oh yeah. that little thing.
No tears? Look at the pics. You can see other emotions too.. The sister seems angry and fighting tears. The 14 y/o had her eyes closed and looked extremely pale.
My sincere condolences.
He did? Do you have a link?
The parents did seem the type that would be interested in this site.
http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/18714
Film reveals Ludwig 'night patrols'
Court documents disclose plots to break into homes, kill family.
By Janet Kelley And Cindy Stauffer
Lancaster New Era
Published: Nov 18, 2005 2:16 PM EST
Dressed in dark clothing, the two filmed themselves as they readied to break into a local home with assault rifles and other guns, according to a new court document.
In low voices, the two discussed shooting and killing a family inside the home during the chilling 18-minute film. But passing traffic foiled their plan, the court document said.
Ludwig, who allegedly shot and killed his girlfriend Kara Borden’s parents in their Lititz home Sunday morning, and the friend then decided to continue their “night patrol” by going to the Borden home, according to the court document.
During the film, they discussed “having sex with Kara and Katelyn Borden, that the sex would constitute statutory rape and the potential to have to shoot a guy named ‘Jonathan’ if he found out about it.”
(Follow the link to read entire article.)
I hope they have picked up the "friend" and he's not running loose .
FOX: coming up...not the first time suspect abducted young girl.
Guess the rumor is true. Stay tuned.
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