Ruth Diamond Borger, social worker for VA, NYC Board of Education, dies at 101
Ruth Borger shown in April 2022, when she turned 100 years old. Credit: Margaret Borger
Ruth Diamond Borger, a former social worker who had a keen interest in helping people, loved the arts and had been involved in several causes, has died. She was 101.
She is remembered as a beloved wife and mother who was considerate and compassionate to others, the family said.
Borger died of heart failure on Feb. 26, her daughter, Margaret Borger said. She had lived at the Atria Park senior living community in Great Neck.
“She enriched the lives of those she encountered with a sympathetic ear and a helping hand,” Margaret Borger, of Bayside and a school librarian in Queens, wrote in a statement.
Born in Manhattan in 1922, Ruth Borger lived in the Bronx and was the child of immigrant parents from Eastern Europe. Her mother, Esther Diamond, was a furrier. Her father, Max Diamond, was a milliner.
However, the Great Depression was a shift for the family, Margaret Borger said. Max lost his business.
“The money wasn't there,” said Margaret Borger, referring to the loss of customers in her grandparents' trades. “So … it was hard.”
Still, Ruth Borger attended the Bronx's James Monroe High School, where she was a hardworking student concerned with social justice issues, the family said. She earned a bachelor's from Hunter College and a master's in social work from Columbia University.
Borger later became a social worker in the Veteran's Administration, helping World War II veterans get their lives back in order, the family said.
In 1945, she met her husband, Larry, who had served in the Army during World War II in Europe, the family said. The two married and lived in Brooklyn. They also lived at Bell Park Gardens in Queens. The couple had three children: Margaret Borger, Kate Ritter, of Pittsburgh, and Irene Borger, of Santa Monica, California.
Ruth Borger took time away from being a social worker to raise her children, the family said. During that time, she did accounting work for her husband's arborist business, Trees and Gardens.
But after the children were older, Borger returned to being a social worker, this time for the New York City Board of Education.
Borger also was interested in several causes. Among them, she was a member of the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy and the Tuesday Morning Music Club of Douglaston.
Margaret Borger said her mother taught her family the value of standing up for their beliefs and being an active community member.
“She was always [the] one,” Borger said in a phone interview. “If something needed to be done, she would do it.”
When Carol Nicodemi thinks about Borger, a smile comes to her face. The two grew closer through the Tuesday Morning Music Club of Douglaston, where both held roles. Ruth had been a treasurer and secretary, then Nicodemi, 70, took over the job of treasurer.
“And she taught me her job, but so much more,” said Nicodemi, a singer and a resident of Bayside.
After seeing Borger talk to audiences, Nicodemi became a better public speaker, she said. And it was Borger's love of composer Giuseppe Verdi that inspired Nicodemi to practice her Classical music repertoire. Borger also became a mother figure for Nicodemi after she lost her mother.
“I looked for her when I … wanted to talk to her, not only about the music love but just in general,” she said. “And she's just a really quality human being.”
She also noted: “Her passing is really a loss, not only to me but to the whole community.”
In addition to her three children, Ruth Borger is survived by three grandchildren: Michael Borger, Levon Ritter and Maddy Ritter.
She was cremated and her ashes will be buried at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Queens.
Ruth Diamond Borger, a former social worker who had a keen interest in helping people, loved the arts and had been involved in several causes, has died. She was 101.
She is remembered as a beloved wife and mother who was considerate and compassionate to others, the family said.
Borger died of heart failure on Feb. 26, her daughter, Margaret Borger said. She had lived at the Atria Park senior living community in Great Neck.
“She enriched the lives of those she encountered with a sympathetic ear and a helping hand,” Margaret Borger, of Bayside and a school librarian in Queens, wrote in a statement.
Born in Manhattan in 1922, Ruth Borger lived in the Bronx and was the child of immigrant parents from Eastern Europe. Her mother, Esther Diamond, was a furrier. Her father, Max Diamond, was a milliner.
However, the Great Depression was a shift for the family, Margaret Borger said. Max lost his business.
“The money wasn't there,” said Margaret Borger, referring to the loss of customers in her grandparents' trades. “So … it was hard.”
Still, Ruth Borger attended the Bronx's James Monroe High School, where she was a hardworking student concerned with social justice issues, the family said. She earned a bachelor's from Hunter College and a master's in social work from Columbia University.
Borger later became a social worker in the Veteran's Administration, helping World War II veterans get their lives back in order, the family said.
In 1945, she met her husband, Larry, who had served in the Army during World War II in Europe, the family said. The two married and lived in Brooklyn. They also lived at Bell Park Gardens in Queens. The couple had three children: Margaret Borger, Kate Ritter, of Pittsburgh, and Irene Borger, of Santa Monica, California.
Ruth Borger took time away from being a social worker to raise her children, the family said. During that time, she did accounting work for her husband's arborist business, Trees and Gardens.
But after the children were older, Borger returned to being a social worker, this time for the New York City Board of Education.
Borger also was interested in several causes. Among them, she was a member of the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy and the Tuesday Morning Music Club of Douglaston.
Margaret Borger said her mother taught her family the value of standing up for their beliefs and being an active community member.
“She was always [the] one,” Borger said in a phone interview. “If something needed to be done, she would do it.”
When Carol Nicodemi thinks about Borger, a smile comes to her face. The two grew closer through the Tuesday Morning Music Club of Douglaston, where both held roles. Ruth had been a treasurer and secretary, then Nicodemi, 70, took over the job of treasurer.
“And she taught me her job, but so much more,” said Nicodemi, a singer and a resident of Bayside.
After seeing Borger talk to audiences, Nicodemi became a better public speaker, she said. And it was Borger's love of composer Giuseppe Verdi that inspired Nicodemi to practice her Classical music repertoire. Borger also became a mother figure for Nicodemi after she lost her mother.
“I looked for her when I … wanted to talk to her, not only about the music love but just in general,” she said. “And she's just a really quality human being.”
She also noted: “Her passing is really a loss, not only to me but to the whole community.”
In addition to her three children, Ruth Borger is survived by three grandchildren: Michael Borger, Levon Ritter and Maddy Ritter.
She was cremated and her ashes will be buried at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Queens.
Education: Howard University
Tiffany Cusaac-Smith came to Newsday in 2023 after being a race and history reporter at USA TODAY, where she wrote enterprise and spot articles examining how the past shapes the present. Previously, she worked as the race and justice reporter at the USA TODAY Network of New York, covering issues such as criminal justice reform, housing, environmental justice, health care and politics. At The Journal News/lohud.com in Westchester County, she covered Yonkers, the state's third-largest city. She also worked at The Associated Press in Atlanta.
Honors and Awards: Criminal justice reporting fellowship with the National Press Foundation; New York News Publishers Association award for distinguished investigative reporting; Contributed reporting for Best of Gannett honor; Member of Table Stakes, a program funded by the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and managed by the American Press Institute to transform local news.
