by Margie Miller on 2013-06-19
Redlands mourns the loss of Nicholas Bornholdt, the 24-year-old son of Redlands Mayor Pro Tem Paul Foster and his wife, Juli.
Bornholdt passed away unexpectedly on May 10, after suffering internal bleeding after an accident in Philadelphia. While walking home from a dinner with friends, Bornholdt, who was a master’s student at Drexel University, tripped and landed on a curb. He sustained lacerations to his liver and went into cardiac arrest. Doctors were able to revive him, but could not stop the bleeding.
Bornholdt passed away early Friday morning, May 10.
Bornholdt was scheduled to return home to Redlands the day he passed away, according to area news reports. He planned to fly into Ontario Airport and surprise his mother for the Mother’s Day holiday, and then attend a graduation ceremony for his girlfriend, who received her master’s degree in social work from USC.
Bornholdt was studying for a master’s degree in biological sciences at Drexel University. He planned to one day attend medical school and become a medical practitioner.
Bornholdt was a 2007 graduate of Redlands High School, where he played the trumpet with the school band and was a section leader in the program. He was also the editor-in-chief of the high school newspaper. Bornholdt graduated from UC Irvine and was an Eagle Scout with the Redlands Boy Scout Troop 11.
Services were held May 18 at the First United Methodist Church.
Donations may be made to the Boy Scouts of America Troop 11 Scholarship Fund, 94 Jennifer Street, Redlands, CA 92373; or the Terrier Band Boosters, c/o Redland High School, 840 E. Citrus Avenue, Redlands, CA 92373.
[END]**
This week’s focus is on eternal values. The importance of faith, hope and love was brought to me in the most tragic way last week. Our neighbors, Juli and Paul Foster, lost their gifted 24-year-od son, Nick, to a freak accident. Paul’s eulogy, graciously shared through his tears, recalled Nick’s desire to be like him and his mother: parents who generously gave to their family, their work as hospital administrators, and the community.
But the truth, Paul said, is that our kids are the most profoundly moving gift we’ll ever receive; teaching us the values of love, kindness, patience, humility, listening and fortitude. He said that he and Juli were so proud of the man Nick had become—setting standards of giving—that his parents were encouraged to follow.
In the midst of this trial, my mother’s favorite anecdote came to me: “When life, which all too short is passed, only that which is done with love will last.”
Of all the things we value, the love of our children is the most powerful, yet fragile, drive in our life, because we never know when it will end.
Nick’s life demonstrated three values that will continue to sustain his family and the people he touched: to love unconditionally, live passionately and give richly.
Our challenge is to honor him in our lives by passing those powerful traits to others along our way.
—Submitted by Ray Anderson