Clifford Borsch

Clifford (Cliff) Borsch of LeGrand, IA passed away on Friday the 13th of March at Iowa River Hospice surrounded by his loving family. Funeral services will be held Saturday, March 21st, 2026 at 10:30 a.m. at Mitchell Family Funeral Home. Visitation will be Friday, March 20th, 2026, evening from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. also at Mitchell Family Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Iowa River Hospice or the Vietnam Veteran Memorial Fund.

Clifford Adam Borsch was born on December 16, 1948 in Minneapolis, MN to Arnold Borsch and Minnie (Clark) Borsch. Cliff attended St. Croix Lutheran school in Minneapolis and graduated in 1967. Corporal E-4 Borsch served in the United States Marine Corps starting in 1968 and spent two subsequent years in the Marine Corps Reserve. He spent his time in the USMC stationed at Camp Pendleton in California. Cliff was extremely proud of his service.

The “yours, mine, and ours” phase of Cliff’s life began on January 12, 1978 when he married Linda McAnulty. Their union brought together Cliff’s three children; Denise, John, and Jason, and Linda’s son, Joel. In 1980 Cliff and Linda welcomed their daughter, Andi, to the family

Cliff dedicated his working life to law enforcement, having worked for both the Marshalltown Police Department and Marshall County Sheriff’s Office. Cliff retired from the city of LeGrand in 2004, where he served as Chief of Police, maintenance director, water pollution guru, dog-catcher, and emergency car-starter. After retirement, Cliff remained engaged in the workforce when he was employed by the Central Iowa Juvenile Detention Center and Central Iowa Residential Services Inc. (CIRSI). He also proudly served on the LeGrand Volunteer Fire Department

Cliff was a man of quiet and confident faith. He was fazed by little and scared of nothing. He would, and did, do anything for anyone. If Cliff started a sentence with, “Well, put it this way” it was a good time to listen closely as it was likely to be followed by something prophetic. Cliff loved his family unconditionally and he will be missed immensely.

Left to cherish Cliff’s memory is his wife of 48 years, Linda of LeGrand; his children Denise Smoldt and her children: Hunter Smoldt and Sophie Smoldt, of LeGrand; Jason (Amanda) Johnston and their children: Sara Remster, Jason Johnston Jr., Hadley Johnston and Kennedy Johnston, of LeGrand, Andi (Nick) Bucklin and their son, Elliott Bucklin, of Pleasant Hill, and Joel (Tammy) McAnulty and their children: DJ Norem, Jordan McAnulty and Rachael McAnulty of Marshalltown, and granddaughter Anistyn Borsch of Marshalltown. He held a special place in his heart for his 11 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister Trena (Bruce) Boucher of Minneapolis. He was preceded in death by his sons, Brian and John, as well as parents Minnie and Arnold.

The family wishes to extend its sincere gratitude to the staff of Iowa River Hospice for the tremendous care of Cliff and his family.