Dr. John George Bordie

The Bordie family with sadness announces the passing of Dr John George Bordie on January the 23d, 2020. Dr Bordie was 88 years old.

Dr Bordie was born in Chicago on April 3, 1931, the son of Helena Jozefin Kozubal and John Bordie. As a child, he discovered an 18th century French coin in the soil in his back yard, igniting a lifelong interest in archaeology. He excelled at school, gaining entrance to the University of Chicago before completing high school. His circumstances required him to work through college but he still found time to play folk music, sing opera and slum around in jazz clubs, setting an admired precedent for his granddaughter, Calla.

After pursuing studies in archaeology and participating in digs in North Dakota and Guatemala, his interests turned to linguistics. Completing doctoral research in Pakistan and India, he earned his PhD in linguistics from the University of Texas in 1958, and then undertook postdoctoral studies at Harvard and Cambridge Universities. This led to a career with the Peace Corps, including a posting to Turkey, where he specialized in middle eastern and Sanskrit based languages. After leaving the Peace Corps, he taught at Georgetown and Cornell universities before becoming a linguistics professor at the University of Texas, as director of the Foreign Language Education Center.

Dr Bordie married Camilla May Bordie of Austin, Texas in 1956. He is survived by her and his children, Robin and Ralph, daughter and son-in-law Andrew and Patricia, and grandchildren,Elenor and Calla. We will miss his love, deep wisdom and even better sense of humor.

Donations to the Harry K Ransom Centre at the University of Texas in lieu of flowers (hrc.utexas.edu)

Arrangements by Weed- Corley-Fish Funeral Home, Austin, Texas — (512) 452- 8811. Remembrances may be shared at “http://www. wcfish.com” www.wcfish. com.