Col. Marion Charles Becker (USAF, Retired), age 77, of Alexandria, Va., passed away at National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2006 due to cancer. He retired from the U. S. Air Force in 1976, having joined the service in 1949. Mr. Becker was born in Stuttgart, Arkansas on August 17, 1928 to Johnnie and Marjorie James Becker. Mr. BeckerÆs early education was at St. JohnÆs Lutheran School in Stuttgart. He was a 1945 graduate of Stuttgart High School, having served as President of the Student Council from 1944-1945. Upon graduation he attended The Citadel Military College in Charleston, S.C. and received a bachelorÆs degree in civil engineering. While there he was elected president of the Calliopean Literary Society debating organization and was a member of the Summerall Guards. As a Distinguished Military Graduate in June 1949, he received a Regular Military Commission. Mr. Becker later attended Texas A & M University (1958-60), where he earned a masterÆs degree in aeronautical engineering, joined the Sigma Gamma Tau Aeronautical Engineering Society, and joined the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society. His military career included Air Force Rescue Service, Air Force Systems Command, the Minuteman Program, serving as Chief of Systems for Titan and Minuteman, and being assigned to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. in the office of the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff and in the office of Director of Air Board Structure. During the Korean conflict he was a flight instructor and served overseas in French Morocco from 1954-1955. Mr. Becker married Ferroline ôFerdyö Hewitt of Valdosta, Ga. in July, 1949, and they were the parents of three children. He is predeceased by his wife of 48 years and his parents. He is survived by a son Charles William (spouse Wanda) in Riverside, Calif.; two daughters, Barbara Wilson (spouse Michael) in St. Simons Island, Ga. and Patricia Oles (spouse James) in Orlando, Fla; grandchildren Dia Frankel (spouse Jesse), Will Becker, Austin Wilson, Taylor Wilson, and Scott Oles; sisters Rosella Hargrove (Nicky), Carolyn Synco (Rex), and Lyn Rhein (Ronald), all of Stuttgart; two aunts, Frances Earhart and Beryl Pullig, both of Stuttgart; and several nieces and cousins, many of them from the Stuttgart area. Memorial service with full military honors will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 22, 2006 at 11 a.m. in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va. Contact: Everly-Wheatley Funeral Home, Alexandria, Va., telephone (703) 998-9200. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate memorial gifts to The Museum of the Arkansas Grand Prairie, 921 E. Fourth Street, Stuttgart, AR 72160, telephone (870) 673-7001.
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