John J. Zaborney, PhD.

John J. Zaborney, PhD., age 59, died August 31, 2026 in Boston, MA, following a brief illness. John was born in Tarrytown, NY, February 13, 1967 the son of John F. and Delia (Marchioni) Zaborney. John was a 1985 graduate of Mahopec High School, and then attended Bridgewater College in Virginia earning a bachelor’s degree in social studies education. John then went on to attend SUNY – Cortland where he earned his Master’s degree in history, and then the University of Maine at Orono where he earned his PhD in history. During his time at UMO he met his now wife, Kimberly Sebold, PhD. and together they shared 34 years both as life partners and as colleagues.

Dr. Raymond Rice, President of the University of Maine at Presque Isle shared the following sentiments about Dr. Zaborney: “John joined the University of Maine at Presque Isle faculty on September 1, 1997, as an Assistant Professor of History. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2004 and to Professor in 2013. He coordinated the History and Political Science program for many years, up until his passing, and served as its institutional memory through significant disciplinary and institutional change. He ensured that the humanities would reach ever larger populations of students, even in the most challenging of times, by leading the move to put History and Political Science online and then, in 2020, adding it to UMPI’s YourPace programming, resulting in over 230 total majors last year, making it the largest such program in the entirety of the UMS.

Above all, John was an outstanding and accomplished scholar. His book, Slaves for Hire: Renting Enslaved Laborers in Antebellum Virginia (Louisiana State University Press, 2012), was the first sustained study of its subject, and it was grounded in painstaking research of primary sources, the product of years spent with letters, account books, diaries, and court records. The scholar and the teacher were never separate people for John: the same conviction animated both, that the past is not a refuge from the present but the only ground on which the present can be understood. We are so grateful for what John gave to our community and the thousands of students he served during his time with us.”

In addition to his professional works, John will be remembered as a loving husband to his wife, a friend to animals, and an avid Motörhead fan.

He is survived by his wife, Kimberly R. Sebold, PhD., of Mapleton, an uncle, Ron Zaborney of Florida, and cousins, Rosalie and John Marchioni of New York, and JoAnne Zaborney of New Jersey, a sister-in-law, Robin Sebold of Presque Isle. He was preceded in death by his parents, and by an uncle. Interment will be in the Hopewell Cemetery in Port Deposit, Maryland. Those who wish to contribute in memory of Dr. Zaborney are asked to consider a donation to the Central Aroostook Humane Society or Blood Cancer United.