Lucas John Borgman

Luke Borgman, 38 of Pleasant Hill, Missouri, passed away at home surrounded by family on June 26, 2023.  A Celebration of Life is planned for Friday, July 14^th from 5:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. at the Raymore Centerview Community Center, 227 Municipal Circle, Raymore, Missouri, 64083.  Memorial contributions can be made to Dream Factory of Greater Kansas City, United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation or Kansas City Hospice.

Luke was born November 16, 1984, the son of John and Debbie Borgman, in Kansas City, Missouri and grew up in Peculiar, Missouri.  Luke went to Our Lady of Peace grade school in South Kansas City and graduated from Raymore-Peculiar High School in 2003.  After high school, Luke attended Alphapointe in Kansas City, where he received additional orientation and mobility training, computer training and job searching skills.  He was so angry when dropped off that first day but came out at the end of the day having had one of his best days ever.  He made some lifelong friends at Alphapointe. 

Luke thoroughly enjoyed growing up in the country in Peculiar where he was able to drive and ride his bike and 4-wheeler, as well as the tractor.  After he began losing his sight, his buddies would take him out on the 4-wheelers riding around the area for hours at a time. He and his brother, Dan, enjoyed playing paintball and lighting fireworks and basically any outdoor activity they could think of.  It seemed there was always something going on at the house as they were growing up. 

Luke had such a phenomenal memory and sense of direction that although he didn’t have much vision, by the time his brother, Dan, started driving, he was able to provide directions to wherever they needed to go!  Luke was always ready and willing to go – it didn’t matter where, he just enjoyed being out and about and never met a stranger.

Luke flew to Michigan when he was about 23 to get his guide dog, Casey, from Leader Dogs for the Blind.  After about 4 weeks of training, Luke and Casey flew home to Peculiar, where Casey was his constant companion until she passed at about 12 years old.  Casey was Luke’s guide, protector and best friend. The two of them traveled to Indianapolis to visit Luke’s Aunt Lori and Uncle Charlie and their family.  They traveled to Colorado to Luke’s uncle Chris’s wedding and multiple other places.  Wherever Luke went, Casey went with him.  She also traveled around town with Luke and his buddies wherever they went.  Due to the progression of Luke’s mitochondrial disease (Kearns-Sayre Syndrome) he was not able to get another guide dog after Casey.

Luke worked at Prier Products as an assembler for 16 years and then became an independent contractor with Prier and worked from home when he was no longer able to work in the plant.  He made many good friends at Prier and missed going into the plant when that was no longer an option.  

Luke was preceded in death by his grandparents, Ken and Virginia Borgman, as well as Jack and Connie Ising, his uncles Rick Ising, Gary Ising and Roger Wilkins.  He is survived by his parents, John and Debbie Borgman of Pleasant Hill, his brother Dan Borgman and his wife Courtney and their children Wesley and Grace Borgman, also of Pleasant Hill.  Luke is also survived by his aunts and uncles, Lori and Charlie Nye, John and Paula Ising, Tom and Renee’ Ising, Theresa and John Rellihan, Lisa Wilkins and Chris and Erin Ising.  Luke also leaves behind many cousins who all loved and were inspired by Luke. 

The family would like to thank all the many physicians who have taken such good care of Luke over the years allowing him to be with us this long.  Luke was an inspiration to so very many people – more so that any of us even realized.  He never quit and always found a way to work around whatever new health issue he had to deal with.  We used to talk about the fact that there was a reason that Luke had the mitochondrial disease, the Good Lord had a reason for it, although we never knew what that reason was.  Now we know.  Luke was a blessing to all of us, he will be missed forever but we believe he can see, hear, walk and run again – he is whole, as the Lord has always promised.  As Luke’s audiologist told us, Luke’s positive outlook and bright personality was his super power!  He said, in the end Luke likely opened more eyes than he was aware.

Online Donations -

Dream Factory of Greater Kansas City: https://kcdream.kindful.com/

United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation: https://give.umdf.org/give/153589/#!/donation/checkout

Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care: https://www.kchospice.org/donation/