Charles Diehl Borland Iii

Charles Diehl Borland, 73, of Bozeman passed away peacefully at home on Nov. 4, 2013. He was born in 1940 in Hobbs, N.M., to Charles D. and Nettie Mae Borland. As he was growing up, he moved throughout the Southwest due to his father's work in the oil industry. He graduated from high school in Roswell, N.M. in 1958, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa in 1963. He began his teaching career in Sterling, Colo., which was interrupted by two years of service in the Army at Fort Detrick, Md. Charles married Jennie Allen in 1967 in Olton, Texas and they moved to Bozeman in 1968 where they raised three children together. Charles taught ninth grade earth science for 36 years, from 1968 to 2004, inspiring many to study further the beauty and complexity of the Earth and its treasures. His interests included spelunking, photography, and running the high school chess club. He was a consummate rock collector, and a long-time member and past-president of the Bozeman Gem and Mineral Club. He co-founded the Montana Crystal Collectors. He also owned a small family business, the Quartz Connection, and for over 20 years was a dealer at mineral shows around Montana and at the local Saturday Farmer's Market. To rockhounds and collectors in the Northwest, Charles was one of the 'go-to' experts for identifying field specimens and was at his happiest when talking about science and mineralogy with anyone who asked. School children, non-collectors, and professional collectors alike were enthralled by his stories. After retirement, Charles continued teaching in Adult Ed. He collected both crystals and stories from Crystal Park in Montana and gave talks there. He regularly attended the Mineral Symposium in Socorro, N.M., the Denver mineral shows, and the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. He spent part of his summers in Colorado helping the Joe Dorris family mine the Smoky Hawk amazonite and quartz claim featured on 'The Prospectors'. He was also very supportive of the Ott-Kim Conservatory in Three Forks. Charles was preceded in death by his parents, and his wife who died in March 2000. He is survived by two daughters, Rhonda and Crystal, and a son, Seth, all of Bozeman. He is also survived by his sister, Nancy (husband Myron) Calhoun of Manhattan, Kan. A memorial service will be held on Nov. 16th at 2 pm at the First Christian Church, 108 East First Street in Whitehall. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to charity.