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Börk Balkan

Börk Balkan, 60, died suddenly on Nov. 7, doing something he loved: playing volleyball. Börk was born in Münster, Germany on Oct. 17, 1962, to Sacit Balkan and Margarete (Verberne) Balkan. He has fond memories of those earlier years living in Münster with his beloved Verberne grandparents. He grew up in cold-war West Berlin. He attended Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in the Netherlands where he got his Ph.D in biology. His thesis was “Autonomic influences on metabolism in the development and maintenance of obesity.” He went to Groningen without knowing Dutch. He convinced his professors to let him write his papers in German in the beginning, while he learned the language. After living in Groningen for 10 years, he spoke Dutch like a native with many stories about acquaintances not knowing he was German.

In 1991 he moved to Madison, New Jersey and began working for Sandoz, later Novartis doing pre-clinical diabetes research. He later lived in Denville. He met his wife Colleen (Doherty) in a volleyball league in Morristown, New Jersey. They moved to Madison 22 years ago. There they raised their daughter Zoe (19). Börk worked for 9 years at a small biotech, the Institute for Diabetes Discovery in Branford. After that he became a consultant with his own LLC, Baphyco where he was happy to decide his own hours so that he could spend more time on his other passions.

He loved cooking and was a wonderful cook. He’s famous for his homemade bread, homemade sausages, smoked chicken drumsticks, and, since COVID, his Ooni-pizza-oven pizzas. We will also greatly miss his Christmas stollen. He loved gardening and was endlessly trying to improve his yield, especially of the perfect size cucumber for his homemade pickles. He loved downhill skiing despite the two broken bones and torn ACL it gave him over the years. He loved sailing, whether it was on the Connecticut shoreline or captaining his own charter on trips with his family and close friends throughout the Virgin Islands. He was happy he had friends that would invite him sailing or to just “work on the boat.” He loved traveling and wanted to spend extended periods of time in Europe in the future. And finally, 12 years ago, he discovered SCUBA diving. He loved it from the beginning and became a diving evangelist. He wanted everyone he met to try it, and to do it in Bonaire where he went six times.

In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by his sister Maral (Jürgen) Miller. He was predeceased by his parents. His niece Yildiz always held a special place in his heart and his best friends, Ernest and Annet were like siblings.

All those who knew him will miss him and his endless knowledge of all things ever. But those of us that played volleyball with him just want “one more game.”