Jimmy Borges will be remembered, through song and commentary, in a celebration of life event today at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. His family will never forget his will to live with terminal cancer.

Borges’ ashes will be scattered from a canoe at 9 a.m. A celebration of his life will follow, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., in the hotel’s Monarch Room. Aloha attire is appropriate but the family asks that no shorts or slippers be worn.

Robert Cazimero, Melveen Leed, Marlene Sai, Little Albert Maligmat, Loretta Ables Sayre, Darren Benitez and a jazz band featuring Dan Del Negro, Jeannette Trevias, Alika Lyman, Noel Okimoto, John Kolivas and Ginai are scheduled to perform.

It will be the third salute to Borges, following Mass at two churches Friday and Saturday. The beloved icon of jazz died Memorial Day at age 80, two days shy of his birthday.

His wife of 32 years, Vicki Bergeron Borges, said Jimmy’s journey to the heavens began a few years ago after he survived liver cancer. They feared but accepted the possibility that the cancer might recur, and it did — this time in his lungs.

For the first time, Vicki revealed intimate and private moments of their goodbyes.

“I pressed up close to his face so that he could see and hear me,” she said of the morning of his passing. “I asked, ‘Jimmy, can you see me?’ His eyes opened slightly. ‘I love you,’ I told him. He mouthed the same words ever so slightly. ‘Can you give me a kiss?’ I asked. And he pursed his lips slowly and I kissed him. I think this was the last time we really connected. After that, I helped him transition. So, so peaceful. I’m not bashful to share this. He passed not long afterward, in our arms, in his own bed at our home.”

His daughter, Steffanie, and her husband, Randy Juergenson, were at his bedside.

Vicki said she “was accepting of his impending death and I promised him I would support him in his decision.” Jimmy had decided to bypass chemotherapy and radiation treatment and face the outcome on his own terms.

“We formed a team with Hospice Hawaii and we took care of Jimmy and of each other,” said Vicki.

“The challenge was knowing he was going to pass, and would I recognize the signs? I did,” she said. “I knew exactly when he started transitioning, up until his last breath. We were sure he was comfortable the entire journey.”

Jimmy had precise instructions for today’s ceremonies, because he had time to contemplate, enlisting the kokua of longtime friend Cha Thompson of Tihati Productions to steer and handpick a roster of peers for his Aloha Oe.

Thompson shares Kalihi roots with Jimmy. They also served as police commissioners together. Planning send-offs for high-profile locals such as entertainer Don Ho and football coach Skippa Diaz in the past, Thompson was seasoned and respected as a doyenne of departures.

Thus, Jimmy had no hesitation to secure Thompson “when we attended Jimmy MacArthur’s (the original Danno of the Jack Lord “Hawaii Five-0”) funeral,” Thompson recalled. “I joked, ‘How you know if I’m not going first?,’ and he said, ‘You better not; nobody has a heart like you.’”

Essentially, Thompson works with the family to sift and select what works best for a send-off.

Daughter Steff and hubby Randy learned much about Jimmy and his will to live while anticipating death. “He was so brave and courageous in facing and dealing with life and death, and with so much dignity,” said Steff. “He lived every day fully with the same lust and zest for life, making every day count.”

Of Daddy’s dream to launch a scholarship bearing his name, Steff said future recipients will “fill him with the greatest joy and pride up in heaven. No daughter could be more proud or delighted of her daddy’s beautiful legacy than I am, now and forever,” she said.

Vicki said Jimmy loved the Monarch Room, where he was a featured singer with Del Courtney’s monthly tea dances, which is why the celebration is being held there. “Though he never had his own booking, he always loved that room and that hotel,” she said.

Another wish of Jimmy’s was to perform at the Blue Note Hawaii venue at the Outrigger Waikiki Hotel, said Thompson, but he was too ill to take the stage. The club will soon announce an appropriate tribute.

Jimmy, who was consulted by the club’s operators, “thought it was a great room and he was very pleased that the Blue Note had come to Hawaii,” said Vicki. He attended a soft opening but never took the stage there. …

And that’s “Show Biz.” …

Wayne Harada is a veteran entertainment columnist. Reach him at 266-0926 or wayneharada@gmail.com. Read his Show and Tell Hawaii blog at staradvertiser.com.