Jan
Borson
JB Designs
Jan Borson was born in
Whittier, California. She met her husband, Larry, in High
School. They were married right after graduation. They
moved to Imperial Beach where they lived till 1996 when
they moved to Oceanside. In May of 2000 they moved into
their present row house.
Jan initially told me she has had three careers. However,
after talking for a while, I think she understated that by
quite a bit. She says her first career (and her hardest)
was, and is wife, and mother to 5 children. All 5 children
are now married and Jan and Larry are the proud
grandparents of 11 and great grandparents of 4. In two
short years from now Jan and Larry will celebrate their
50th
wedding anniversary
which they had hoped to celebrate at the new hotel on the
beach?!?
Jan’s second career alongside motherhood was as a
swimming teacher. She started out part time at the Y as the
Tiny Tot teacher, and was certified by the Red Cross. This
eventually evolved into her own business at her home pool
where her students ranged in age from 2 to 76 years. Jan
continued this for 25 years.
Jan’s third career is interior design. She received
her College Degree in Design at the age of 58. Her daughter
had a design business for many years and Jan had worked
part time with her. She originally started out in College
studying psychology but her creative side took over. As a
child she was always designing and creating things, e.g. a
house out of hoses! However, she uses her psychology
training helping her clients and friends. She is an
excellent listener and has a wealth of life experiences. In
2000, Jan did the interior design for the model homes on
Cleveland St. This was the stepping stone to her own
business. Her first job was a home in Bonsall. Jan believes
in always adding something a little different/a little out
of the ordinary in all her design work.
On top of her three careers she also finds time to
volunteer! For 2 years she was involved with Ocean Escapes,
a non-profit group who taught handicapped people the joy
and freedom of scuba diving. Jan has been involved as a
board member with MainStreet Oceanside since its beginning
5 years ago. She believes downtown Oceanside can get back
to being a “real downtown” and MainStreet
Oceanside is the vehicle. Jan designed the MainStreet
office with Kim Heim, MainStreet’s Director, and
always designs beautiful centerpieces for all the events.
The articles in the newsletter about businesses and the
Farmers Market come from her pen also. Jan is also an
active member of the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce.
It would be wonderful if we could bottle Jan’s
enthusiasm, creativity, energy, caring involvement with
people and her ever-ready wonderful smile. Since we
can’t we just have to be thankful we know her and she
is such an active part of our organization.
Article by
Mary Milew