News
Aug 7
'Pioneer' for the developmentally disabled
By Jeannie Kever, Copyright 2011 Houston Chronicle
August 7, 2011
Frank Borreca, a key player in the movement to change how people in Houston and around the country think about people with developmental disabilities, died Sunday. He was 92 and had cancer.
"He was one of the early people who felt those with developmental disabilities had value and could live fulfilling lives," said Brian J. Cohen, president of the board of The Center. "He was a pioneer in that."
Borreca came to Houston from his native New York in 1956, hired to develop programs at what was then known as the Houston Association for Retarded Children.
"It was like coming into a desert," he recalled in a 2008 interview. "There was nothing at that time."
Jack Manning, a Houston attorney who has served on The Center's board since 1964, said Borreca came up with a plan — and raised money - to build classrooms, sheltered workshops and recreational facilities. By the late 1960s, the organization had a high-rise residence for people with developmental disabilities, and it later added a farm near Sealy.
"None of these things existed in Texas or anywhere in the United States that I know of," Manning said.
Borreca retired several times, starting in 1982, but remained active at The Center and its foundation until shortly before his death.
He was born Oct. 30, 1918, in Brooklyn, N.Y., and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He later said his experiences in the South Pacific led to his career as a voice for those who previously had been hidden away.
He was talking with a farmer when "I heard this human voice, screaming in the barn. I said, 'What is that?'
"The farmer said, 'My son.' He had his son hidden in a large cage, and ... said if the authorities knew he had this disabled son, they would take him away."
A chance meeting after the war with Richard Hungerford, the first director of special education for New York City schools, confirmed his path, and Borreca began working for the school system there.
Borreca earned a master's degree in education from Teacher's College at Columbia University and a doctorate in education from the University of Houston.
One of his sons said World War II influenced his father in another way, as well.
"He taught all of us that you're given a very short time on this earth, and you should have an impact on others," Christopher Borreca said. "He felt there was no other group of individuals who needed help more."
His father loved travel, cooking and art.
"But his main passion was work and The Center," his son said.
Manning, whose son Mitch attended classes and lived at The Center and the farm from 1961 until his death in 2005, said Borreca served as a mentor to generations of parents whose children had developmental disabilities.
"I owe Frank Borreca a debt I can never repay," he said.
Borreca spoke of the importance of integrating people with developmental disabilities into society in the 2008 interview.
"It gives them a sense of being a person of significance," he said. "To be able to say, 'I have a job.' Every adult needs to feel they have something worthwhile to others, a skill other people want."
Cohen said he will remember Borreca's signature question in any decision: "What's right for the client?"
"He kept us grounded," Cohen said.
A memorial Mass is planned for 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 6800 Buffalo Speedway, with a reception to follow in the Monsignor Jamail Family Center.
Survivors include his wife, Gloria Fossati Borreca; children Richard W. Borreca of Hawaii, Christopher P. Borreca of Houston and Mary Margaret Borreca Smith of Nacogdoches; daughters-in-law June Borreca and Elizabeth Borreca; son-in-law Ken Smith; sister, Helen T. Pitts; grandchildren, Nicholas Borreca, Anthony A. Borreca, Marisa Borreca, Zachary Smith and Alexandra Smith; and many nieces and nephews.
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