Sheri Borax

Sheri Borax was born Sheri Hermine Hoffman on July 17, 1942, to Leonard and Florence Hoffman in Brooklyn, NY. Her earliest memories were of living on a chicken farm in Patchogue, NY, where she “made friends with the chickens” and refused to eat chicken for several years after. As World War II raged, the farm fed soldiers stationed at a nearby army base. She described her time on the farm as among the happiest years of her life, and the password to her computer was “Patchogue” for quite some time.

When the war ended, she and her parents moved to a comfortable two-story house in Rockville Centre, Long Island, a forty-minute train ride from Manhattan. Leonard commuted to run the cosmetic electrolysis business they owned in the city, and Florence stayed home to raise their bright, somewhat precocious daughter.

Sheri did well in school and had many friends. As a young girl, she would sometimes take the train into the city with a friend to attend one of Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts or go to a museum. It was another time, and she felt perfectly safe without parental supervision.

As Jews, supporting Israel was important to her parents, and it became important to her. Years later, she described how they “ran guns down to the docks” to be smuggled into Palestine and later Israel in support of its independence and survival. She would also drive with her mother all around Long Island to retrieve donations placed in the ubiquitous JNF Blue Boxes, which went toward “developing the Land of Israel.”

Her mother, Florence, died when Sheri was only nine years old. Though she adored her father, this tragic loss transformed a happy home life into something darker, with the introduction of a sometimes-cruel stepmother, Muriel. The expanded family included a younger stepbrother, Bruce, who became an important ally and eventually a beloved sibling, as was her sister Julie, born when Sheri was fifteen. She found refuge by diving headfirst into school and her social life. At South Side High School, she was on the cheerleading team, and she and her friends would often gather in each other’s basements to play games, listen to music, and just hang out. Her close friends and boyfriend at the time, Danny, were essential to her happiness. Even more important was her loving grandmother Rose, who made Sheri the center of her life.

She attended Tufts University, where she majored in early childhood education and embraced the cultural richness that Boston had to offer. She loved it all… except for the cold!

During one of her college breaks, she met the outgoing Jim Borax, who offered a sunny, optimistic antidote to the sullen home life she wanted to escape. They married and, within a couple of years, moved to Los Angeles. California was a “paradise” to them, and when Jim worried that money trouble might force them to move back to New York, Sheri emphatically declared that they were staying in LA even if she had to work two jobs and the “graveyard shift.” They stayed, and Sheri soon thrived as an early-elementary public school teacher and later taught at the Mirman School for gifted children.

A son, Hugh, soon arrived, followed by their daughter, Romi. Sheri elected to stop teaching and became a real estate agent, which was more lucrative and offered flexibility to spend more time with her kids. She excelled, and eventually she and Jim began investing in real estate, sometimes renovating properties from the ground up.

She loved construction; everything from designing and remodeling kitchens to pouring concrete for a tennis court. She and their esteemed contractor, Carl, delighted in hunting for second-hand items such as light fixtures and doorknobs, occasionally discovering them at a garbage dump. She once even followed a truck carrying a large amount of dirt and persuaded the driver to unload it at the job site, where it was used for landscaping. If Jim worried that a real estate investment might be too expensive, he trusted her to watch the expenses closely — and her infectious confidence in the endeavor usually won him over.

Over the years, their hard work paid off and their financial concerns faded, enabling Sheri and Jim to travel extensively. They went on safari in Kenya, cruised the fjords in Norway, and Sheri even braved a harrowing trip to Antarctica, where—traveling with her dear friend Joan—she finally saw her beloved Emperor penguins. (Rough seas caused the ship captain to order everyone to their bunks, and Sheri and Joan laughed hysterically the entire time!)

Sheri was also able to explore her passion for collecting, often waking up before dawn on Sunday mornings to get the best deals at the Rose Bowl and other swap meets. Their home displayed the spoils of her excursions, including Royal Doulton Toby Jugs, Art Nouveau French Posters, colorful cookie jars, decorative glass candlesticks, and more! One might think this made their home cluttered, but it was immaculate, and she took great care to design ingenious shelving for her treasures.

Sheri and Jim retired to Palm Desert and later Rancho Mirage. Sheri added to her numerous Los Angeles-area friends, as well as many others she met at Sun City, Tamarisk Country Club and numerous Jewish charities. Her childhood love for Israel never waned, and she devoted her later years to raising funds for JNF, Hadassah, Nefesh B’Nefesh and others close to her heart. She was president of the local JNF chapter for years, and in 2021, Sheri and Jim were awarded their Tree of Life Award for “years of generosity and dedication.”

At her core, Sheri was a relationship-oriented person. She cared about the people she encountered, from her pharmacist’s children to the waiters at the local restaurant where she loved to go for pancakes. During her illness, her caregivers experienced the deep love and affection she shared with so many others throughout her life.

She loved and was utterly devoted to “Jimmy,” and his well-being was always her highest priority. Hugh and Romi loved her dearly and are profoundly grateful to have had such a mother and for the lessons she taught them. Highest among them is that we always have a choice for how to live our lives and focusing on gratitude is usually the best choice.

Sheri is survived by her husband of 60 years, Jim; her son Hugh and daughter-in-law Paula; her daughter Romi Marks and son-in-law Jon; her brother Bruce Cheson and his wife Chris; her sister Julie Hoffman Klein and her husband Stan; and the close friends who became like family over her Wonderful Life.

We invite you to sign the guestbook below.