Albert William Bork

Bill Bork was a second-generation native of Prescott, born in l906 in the Territory. His full name as required by the IRS and Social Security was Albert William Bork,  but he was always known as William. Bill graduated from Prescott High School in l925. In Meeting the Four O?Clock Train, Dixon Fagerberg Jr. writes: ?My unqualified nomination for the most accomplished PHS scholar during my 1924?1927 tenure would be William Bork.? He began his schooling in Lincoln School on Park Avenue a year or so after it opened, for  four years, and then at   Washington School through the eighth grade. Across the street on East Gurley at  that time was   Prescott High School (the county jail is there now), where Bork was graduated in  May  of l925.   He held Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts  degrees  from the University of Arizona at Tucson, and was Doctor in   Letters, with a specialty in history from the National Autonomous University in Mexico City. His teaching was in the Spanish and Portuguese languages and literatures and the history of Spain and Mexico.  During WWII he taught  history of the United States at the National  University in Mexico City after  efforts to serve in other ways were rejected.    His doctoral work resulted in a dissertation on the history of the Santa Fe  (Independence, Mo., to Santa Fe, N.M.) trade during the years l824_?l846, as recorded in  Mexican government archives.   Before his retirement in l974, he was director of the Center for Interamerican Studies at  Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and professor of Spanish and Portuguese. He was a fluent speaker and writer of Spanish. His teaching career was at the University of Arizona, briefly at Washington State College (in the l940s),  and at the National University of Mexico, as well as  a year as a Fulbright scholar at  the National University of San Marcos  in Lima, Peru. He also served as director of personnel and labor relations with General Electric S.A. de C. in Mexico City,  l953?1957.   When his wife, Nadyne, retired as instructor in Spanish and French at Southern Illinois University ,  they came to Prescott, where he devoted himself to writing on postal history and  local pioneer history.  He joined the Prescott Historical Society (Sharlot Hall) in the 1920s. He joined the Smoki in 1926 and participated in  the Smoki ceremonials and Snake Dance (l980?l990) and as a docent at the Smoki Museum in Prescott. He also served as Chief  Cahagatonga (White Hair)  of the Smoki People. He belonged to several Arizona and International philatelic and historical associations. He was active in the Prescott Corral of Westerners and the Rat Finks of Prescott, Arizona, a ?small, self-selected group of fun-loving historians.? He was an honorary  member of the Prescott Rotary Club, and his writings would fill a couple of volumes.   He was married  to Marguerite Nadyne for nearly 70 years. He is survived by his daughter, JoAnne Craig, and two sons, David and Albert (wife Kathy) Bork; grandchildren Kathleen (husband Russ) Craig, Stephen (wife Sandy) Craig, Tim Craig, and Adam Bork; great-grandchildren Joe Donato, Natalie Craig, and Julie Craig; and great-great-grandchildren Zachary Donato, Izabella Donato, and Sophia Donato.   He is survived by a brother, John Theodore, in  Phoenix, and a sister, Elizabeth Violet,  in Pittsburgh. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Nadyne, his  brothers Dan and Henry, and his sister Kay.