(Radio Iowa) — A long-time, well-known Iowa journalist has died. Dean Borg was host and moderator of the weekly “Iowa Press” program on Iowa P-B-S for more than four decades. Borg retired from the program in 2017. “There’s no better place to cover politics than Iowa.” Borg’s comments come from a retrospective aired on Iowa P-B-S just over three years ago. Radio Iowa news director O. Kay Henderson has shared these memories of Borg with Iowa Public Radio, where Borg did part-time work for the past two decades. “I would describe Dean in two parts. There’s the personal part — a true gentleman, a good friend and a devoted family man. Then, there’s the professional part — the tenacious, determined journalist and I think that explains his popularity with the ‘Iowa Press’ audience,” Henderson said. “I think they could see and sense all of that.”

Dean Borg

Borg, who was 81, died of complications of pancreatic cancer. Borg grew up in Forest City and was the first member of his family to attend college. He graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in journalism, served in the Air Force, worked for the Defense Department and was a war correspondent in Vietnam. Borg returned to Iowa and was a reporter for W-M-T television in Cedar Rapids. He helped launch “Iowa Press” on public television in 1971. Dean and his wife, Sheila, have been long-time residents of Mount Vernon. Borg is survived by his wife. five children and nine grandchildren.

The Borg family will hold private funeral services due to coronavirus pandemic precautions. A memorial service may be scheduled later in the year. The family has suggested memorial donations may be made to the Mount Vernon Schools Foundation to fund an annual scholarship for a high school graduate or to the Iowa PBS Foundation to fund an annual internship for a college student pursuing a degree in journalism.