Deloras G. (Greenwood) Becker 1920-2009

BECKER, GREENWOOD, WEBER, MILBURN, MCKINLAY, LEUTE, FELDERMAN, KUHLE

Posted By: Cheryl Locher Moonen (email)
Date: 10/4/2015 at 18:46:31

Deloras G. Becker, 88, of Dubuque, died Monday, June 8, 2009, at the Dubuque Nursing & Rehab Center.

In keeping with her wishes, there will be no visitation or services. Burial will be with her husband, Howard, in the Rock Island Arsenal Cemetery, Rock Island, Ill.

She was born on July 23, 1920, in Farley, Iowa, daughter of Rose (Weber) and Frank Greenwood. At the age of 2, she was raised by her grandparents, Nick and Maggie Weber, of Guttenberg, Iowa, due to her father's illness and later death, when she was 3. She was a 1939 graduate of Guttenberg High School, where she played the oboe and was drum majorette.

She married Howard W. Becker in August 1951 in Chicago; he preceded her in death on Aug. 6, 1970.

During World War II, she worked as a guard for the Department of the Navy in San Pedro, Calif. She later moved to Chicago, where she worked for Motorola and Zenith Radio Companies. She also worked for the Chicago Journal of Commerce, which later merged with the New York Wallstreet Journal. She then moved to Dubuque, where she worked at hospitals and nursing homes, caring for others.

After her husband, Howard's, death in 1970, she moved to Davenport, Iowa, and worked at the Rock Island Arsenal in Rock Island, and later Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. She lived in Monticello, Iowa, for a time, where she did volunteer work for Camp Courageous. Most recently, she retired from the position of greeter at Wal-Mart in Dubuque.

Surviving are sons, Robert J. (Linda) Becker, of Dubuque, Charles W. (Pat) Becker, of Monticello, and Jim (Frankie) Milburn, of Kansas City, Mo.; a daughter-in-law, Barbara McKinlay, of Dubuque; eight grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and a brother, Norbert Leute, of Bella Vista, Ark.

She also was preceded in death by a son, Michael J. Becker, on May 12, 2000; a brother, Leo (Delores) Greenwood in 2005; and two sisters, Violet Felderman in 2005 and Rosemary Kuhle in 2008.

Memorials may be given in Deloras' name to Camp Courageous Foundation, PO Box, 418, Monticello, IA 52310-0418.

A very special thank you to Dubuque Hospice and to Dubuque Nursing and Rehab Center for the extra care, attention and love they showed Deloras. Hospice is truly an advocate for their patients and both treated our mother like she was part of their own family.

Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) - Tuesday, June 9, 2009