Walter Borghesan, Lives Lived Dec. 14/10
Husband, father, grandfather, electrician, tennis player and teacher. Born March 16, 1926, in Milan, Italy. Died Aug. 31 in Guelph, Ont., of liver failure, aged 84.
Walter Borghesan was a deceptively ordinary man. He never made the headlines for some notable invention or accomplishment, but his wisdom, ethics and gracious demeanour made everyone who came into his orbit want to be a better human being.
Trained as an electrical technician, he left the dismal employment opportunities of post-Second World War Italy in 1956 and immigrated to Canada.
His first stop was Toronto, where he worked as a labourer until he landed a job as an electrician in Stratford, Ont., in 1959. Unfortunately, the employees of the company that had hired him went on strike. Two years later he relocated to Guelph, Ont., where he spent the rest of his working life as an electrician at Imperial Tobacco.
In view of his advanced technical training, the job was less than challenging, but Walter's reaction was to accept it as a source of financial security for his eventual family while seeking fulfilment beyond the work setting.
As a young man in Italy he had played semi-professional soccer, and also had become proficient at tennis. When he moved to Stratford, he began to frequent the tennis courts again. There he met his future wife, Jean. They married in 1962 and raised two daughters, Penny and Pamela.
By the time Walter settled in Guelph, tennis had become akin to a religion, or at least a metaphor for human existence. His philosophy went far beyond courtesy and etiquette. He believed you shouldn't regard the person on the other side of the net as your opponent - he or she is your ally in the mutual pursuit of pleasure.
One of Walter's accomplishments was to persuade scores of co-workers at Imperial Tobacco and others throughout the city, most of whom had never played tennis or engaged in strenuous exercise for years, to join him at the local courts. Few of them would ever forget his fundamental rules: First, get the ball over the net; second, place it in the court; third, move your feet; fourth and above all else, have fun.
Walter's influence on the tennis court went to the heart of his defining role in life: In the widest and best sense of the word, he was a teacher. When he arrived in Canada he could hardly speak a word of English. In due time, his proficiency in the language became so advanced that he could have been mistaken for a college professor. An environmentalist before his time, he never owned a car, preferring his bicycle.
By his own example, he encouraged people to take the time to communicate with each other and to think more deeply and clearly about the values that guided them. Little wonder that this remarkable man was surrounded by a multitude of admirers from every walk of life.
By Stan Barrett, Walter's friend and tennis disciple.