Bracy Borel’s Memorial Donation Page
Posted on December 2, 2022
With deep sadness, we share the news that Bracy Borel, son of Clarence Borel, passed away in his home on November 9, 2022. The Borel family changed the face of the fight against asbestos. Like his father, Bracy worked as an insulator and was exposed to asbestos both on the job, and as a child.
Bracy and Clarence Borel. PHOTO CREDIT: Earl Dotter
In 2016, Earl Dotter and I visited Bracy and his wife, Mary Lynne at their home in Bo’s Hollow, a museum village. As we worked on research and the photos for an important new panel of Earl’s “BADGES: A Memorial Tribute to Asbestos Workers” exhibit, we learned firsthand from Bracy about the corrupt corporations, life as an insulator, and the impact of asbestos on his father, Clarence, as well as the impact on the entire family.
As a proud union worker, Bracy shared his father’s toolkit and their International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers union membership books. Earl Dotter said, “I fondly recall the visit Linda Reinstein and I made to see Clarence Borel’s son… What stands out to me today is the strong memories Bracy conveyed about working as an insulator with his father as well as Bracy’s ongoing commitment to ban Asbestos entirely in the United States so asbestos exposure tragedies, like they and so many others have experienced, stop.”
Mary Lynne and Bracy
Clarence, began working as an industrial insulation worker in the 1930’s. After his mesothelioma diagnosis, he sued manufacturers for failure to warn workers about the dangers of asbestos exposure. There is no safe level of asbestos exposure or use, which causes fatal illnesses such as asbestosis, mesothelioma, cancers of the lung, larynx, ovaries, and more.
Clarence’s story is important because of the Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products Corporation case that secured legal rights for occupationally exposed asbestos victims, and also demonstrates the power of one person or one families ability to make a difference. The jury heard the truth in Borel’s story, and Borel won the case.
According to Paul Brodeur, author of “Outrageous Misconduct: The Asbestos Industry on Trial” (1985), the Borel decision “triggered the greatest avalanche of toxic-tort litigation in the history of American jurisprudence. Some twenty-five thousand lawsuits were brought over the next decade as word spread that asbestos manufacturers could be held strictly liable under the law.”
Borel Panel for “BADGES: A Memorial Tribute to Asbestos Workers” Exhibit. PHOTO CREDIT: Earl Dotter
Clarence’s successful landmark product liability case set a precedent and began a shift in corporate liability, imports, and use. “Clarence Borel’s family and his son Bracy Borel stood up and opened the door for all asbestos-workers in America to proclaim to the asbestos industry that it was their legal right to be protected on the job… Though this case dealt with asbestos, it also paved the way to demonstrate to other industries that they must protect their workers or be held accountable,” said Dr. Richard A. Lemen, retired Assistant Surgeon of the United States and Acting Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Bracy, Mary Lynne, and the Borel family deeply touched us. In fact, the family attended ADAO’s Asbestos Awareness and Prevention Conference where we honored Clarence posthumously with the 2016 Warren Zevon Keep Me in Your Heart award. Barry Castleman, ScD, Environmental Consultant shared, “I enjoyed the chance to meet Bracy and other members of the Borel family at the ADAO conference in 2016 to honor them. I am so sorry to learn of Bracy’s death and send condolences to the family.”
We will never stop sharing Bracy’s story, in order to raise awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure. In his honor, we will continue to fight for an asbestos ban.
“The Borel Family and its members have had an important historical role in the matter of asbestos disease and compensation, and one is always saddened in learning of the passing of another family member from a disease that should have totally preventable and was know about for more than a century.” Arthur L. Frank MD, PhD
ADAO sends our sincere condolences to his wife, Mary Lynne Borel; children, David Borel Jr. and Ellena; Dale Borel and Charla; and Jennifer Mainer and Joe; six grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; sisters, Phyllis Martinez, Groves, Texas; Brenda Erickson and John, Kirbyville, Texas; and Kathy Dean, Beaumont, Texas.
With deep sadness and respect,
Linda Reinstein