Obituary: Mark Borthwick, 1946-2024 

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• Courtesy
• Mark Borthwick

Mark Borthwick, a founder and U.S. executive director of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), a Singapore-based nonprofit organization of 20 Asia-Pacific countries, died on July 14, 2024, in Burlington, Vt..

Mark was born in Clarinda, Page County, Iowa, the fifth child of Ernest and Lois Borthwick. He grew up on the family farm, graduating from South Page High School in College Springs, Iowa. He attended Iowa State University, followed by Northwestern University.

Mark lived a full and interesting life. In 1969, Mark served in an intelligence unit in Vietnam and traveled the entirety of the country, including dangerous sojourns in solitary guard posts leading into Saigon. His travels took him to every country on the Pacific Rim and included a trip across Russia during the height of the Cold War and a dinner in the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square.

In his retirement, Mark became interested in a family ancestor, Mamah Borthwick, a gifted woman who had a serious, publicly misrepresented love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright. Little was known of her personal life, and Mark did extensive research for his book about her, A Brave and Lovely Woman: Mamah Borthwick and Frank Lloyd Wright, setting the record straight about her positive influence on the famous architect.

He is survived by a son, John, with his first wife, Emmy Savage. In 1996, he married Becky Lescaze, who survives him, along with a grandson, Elio; four brothers and sisters; and two stepdaughters, Alexandra and Miranda, and their children.

Mark’s wife, Becky, to whom he was married for 28 years, introduced him to Vermont, where she grew up. He loved Vermont, and when they both retired, they moved to Burlington. He was loved by his family and respected and admired by all who knew him. Services are pending.