SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A quarter century later, pictures of Marc Borza’s daughter Deora, killed in the September 11 attacks, are present throughout his Tierrasanta home, one of many tributes he vows to keep alive, despite his health struggles.
I sat down with Borza at his Tierrasanta home ahead of the 25-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
"I don't place an importance on the number," Borza said. "Every year, I have to relive that day, no matter if it's the 3rd, 7th, or 12th, so 25 is no different. It's not worse or better."
Bodley was a 20-year-old college student when United Flight 93 was hijacked and crashed into a Pennsylvania field, killing all on board. ABC 10News first spoke with loved ones of Bodley in 2003, two years after her death.
"First time in my life, I felt air escape from me," Borza said of learning of her death that day.
For more than a decade, Borza and a group of family and friends have been lighting candles at Mission San Diego de Alcalá, a church Bodley once attended — 40 candles, one for each victim aboard Flight 93.
"Lucky enough to be her dad. It's the least I could do," Borza said in 2024.
Borza said keeping her memory alive remains the most important thing in his life.
"That's the top of my life — to make sure Deora is not forgotten. Everyone who died on that day is not forgotten," Borza said in 2025.
For the 67-year-old, carrying out his annual tribute is getting harder. Borza was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2016. This past year, he suffered several setbacks, one of which left him unable to walk for a month.
"Oh goodness, legs feel like lead," Borza said as he moved from his couch to a wheelchair.
His condition is improving slowly, but he had to cancel plans to fly to Pennsylvania to commemorate the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
When asked how his grief has changed over the years, Borza said it never fully fades.
"Never goes away completely. You make it part of who you are and function with it. You take it with you," Borza said.
Although his plans to travel to Pennsylvania have been scrapped, Borza says he will return to the church on Sept. 11.
When asked what he would do if he were physically struggling that day, he said, “I will go anyway. I'm not going to let it stop me … We remember to keep them alive. When people forget, that's when it dies.”
