Francis H. Becker 1915-2011

BECKER, HOGAN, BEEDLE

Posted By: j.n. (email)
Date: 2/11/2011 at 20:59:09

Telegraph Herald
Dubuque, Iowa
Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Francis H. Becker

Francis H. Becker, 95, of Bellingham, Wash., formerly of Dubuque, died Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011, at his home in Bellingham.

In keeping with his wishes, there were no services.

He was born on Oct. 15, 1915, in Dubuque, son of Emily (Hogan) and Henry Becker, the fifth born of six children. He lived in Dubuque until 1965.

While he was in high school, the Great Depression began and, like many others, he looked for work to help out with the family expenses. He was able to get a job digging ditches for Dubuque Water Works to pay off the family's water bill, and he worked in the kitchen of Roshek's Department Store to pay off the family's clothing account. After graduating from Columbia Academy in Dubuque, he "rode the rails" to St. Louis, where he enrolled at St. Louis University, followed by Washington University Law School. He met Alice Beedle while in St. Louis.

Upon graduation from law school in 1939, he returned to Dubuque where he opened a law office. His law practice was interrupted by World War II. Frank enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1942, where he attained the rank of staff sergeant. He was assigned to fly "the Hump" over the Himalayas to supply the troops located in China. During the course of his service, he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, a bronze Oak Leaf Cluster and the Presidential Unit Citation. While still in the service, on Aug. 7, 1945, Frank and Alice were married. Shortly thereafter, they returned to Dubuque, and he resumed his law practice.

In 1948, Frank was elected as Dubuque County Attorney, a position he held for four years. As his practice grew, he was joined by Al Hughes, who became a lifelong friend. In 1965, Governor Harold Hughes appointed him to the Iowa Supreme Court. Though Frank had many friends and colleagues over the years, he had a particular fondness for the members of the Court. Being a strong liberal voice on the Court, he often found himself on the losing end of the case "discussions," resulting in his being relegated a dissenting, rather than a majority opinion. During his tenure on the Court, he wrote 299 opinions, 127 of which were dissents. He was proud to see many of his dissents adopted by the Court in later years. Additionally, he employed the first female law clerk on the Court, a practice that is now common. In 1972, he resigned from the Court and returned to private practice in the firm of Patterson, Lorentzen, Timmons, Irish, Duffield & Becker in Des Moines, where he stayed until his retirement in 1991.

After Alice's passing in 1996, Frank moved to Seattle to live with his daughter Redd and her two children, Viva and Anchi. They later moved to Bellingham.

Surviving are his four children, Leslie (Susan Noland), Doug (Bonny) and children, Katie and Alice, Chuck (Libby) and children Eli, Coleman and Grayson, and Redd and children, Viva and Anchi, all of whom loved him immensely.