Borell, Frank J.

Frank J. Borell, born on January 22, 1894, at Waverly, Minnesota, grew up on a farm as the son of German immigrant Louis Borell and Pennsylvania native Kate Knacble. After attending public school and farming for himself from the age of nineteen, he eventually owned and improved eighty acres of the old family estate. On November 17, 1900, he married Pearl Pannett, a Waverly native whose family later relocated to Fresno, California. The couple continued to raise stock and grain in Minnesota until February 1906, when they rented out their ranch and moved to Fresno County to explore new agricultural opportunities.

By December 1906, they purchased twenty acres on California Avenue west of Fresno and soon added twenty adjoining acres to create a productive forty-acre ranch. Using modern scientific methods, they replaced poor vines with alfalfa, Thompson seedless, muscat, and sultana grapes, alongside a well-appointed dairy and peach orchard. Mr. Borell became a member and stockholder in the California Associated Raisin Company and the Danish Creamery Association. Together they raised four children, Adrey E., Raleigh A., Eldon W., and Lily Pearl, while Frank served locally as a deacon of the First Christian Church and participated in community movements regardless of his Republican political affiliation.