Fr John Becker article in Catholic Sun

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Beloved Brophy Jesuit dies

By Gina Keating, The Catholic Sun
February 7, 2008

Beloved Brophy College Preparatory English teacher and inveterate punster, Jesuit Father John R. Becker, Jr., died Jan. 19. He was 82.

As his nickname, "Johnny Jet," suggests, Fr. Becker was a kinetic individual.

"I could never keep up with him," Jesuit Father Harry Olivier said. "He was always on the move, and always at a fast pace."

The friendship of Fr. Becker and Fr. Olivier, assistant to the superior at Brophy, goes back 63 years.

"He was a character. That's what made him such an extraordinary teacher," Fr. Olivier said. "He had a tremendous impact on those he taught."

Fr. Becker entered the Society of Jesus and taught English and prefected boarders at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose from 1950 to 1953. Ordained a priest on June 15, 1956, from 1958 to 1977 he taught English at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco.

For the past 30 years, the Jesuit priest taught English at Brophy. It was only fitting that he was the moderator of the student newspaper and yearbook.

It took some cajoling, but one of his students, John Walters, finally wrote for the school paper.

Walters, a 1982 Brophy graduate, is a former columnist for Sports Illustrated, and now writes for NBCSports.com and for the Olympics.

"One thing he did was he gave kids confidence in themselves," Walters said. "He encouraged us to look at things differently. Say it differently. He loved word play."

Fr. Becker was a slender man with short, brown hair that he liked to toss with his fingers like a salad. He enjoyed riding his bicycle with an enormous orange flag attached to the back, and he liked strolling down Central Avenue in the dead of summer.

"He didn't mind looking silly. He was very bright and it came across," Walters said. "He loved being a teacher."

Fr. Becker also enjoyed satire, puns and irony.

One of his more famous sayings to his students on a Friday afternoon would be, "Have a dry weekend."

"You never knew what he meant by that," Walters said. "If you were to ask, you would not get a straight answer."

And in true Fr. Becker style, it rained on the day of his visitation at Brophy Chapel, Jan. 27.

Aside from teaching, Fr. Becker also was a frequent retreat director and a spiritual guide to students and others seeking his counsel.

Favorite Fr. Becker stories abounded at his visitation and in his guest book posted online.

Former St. Ignatius student, Will Horsfall, class of 1973, said Fr. Becker was a devout Jesuit who was passionate about his faith.

"I will never forget the pure look of love on his face every time, during a Mass, when he held the Body of Christ up over his head," Horsfall said. "He was a pretty cool guy, even though he always wore white socks with his black priest clothes."

Fr. Olivier remembers his passion for the right-to-life movement. He often prayed the rosary with Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted at abortion clinics.

In addition to celebrating Glendale Masses for Beatitudes DOAR, or Developing Older Adult Resources, Fr. Becker also said the teen Mass at Holy Spirit Parish in Tempe.

Fr. Becker was a published author, having written "Father, Forgive Them," and "Cold Case," which dealt with issues pertinent to the sanctity of human life.

However, it was his affinity for the written word and his ability to instill grammar into the hearts of his students that made a significant impression.

"He was nuts about Shakespeare," Horsfall said, "and once folded a newspaper into a hat to play one of Shakespeare's characters in a class skit. He was nuts about the colorfulness of language, and that is one of his gifts to me."

Former Brophy student Alex Falkenstein, class of 2006, was moved by the way Fr. Becker took a personal interest in each of his students.

"I was having a difficult time with grammar and he helped me get through it," he said. " He was unique and he cared. I'll remember his sense of humor and his cheerful smile on his face."

One final Fr. Becker pun was his response to questions, such as, "Would you like me to turn the paper in Friday?"

To which Fr. Becker would respond, "I'd be like a firefly in the rain. De-lighted." It's the hearts of his friends, family and former students that are now de-lighted by his death.

Fr. Becker is survived by his cousin, Sr. Miriam Theresa, CSA, of Fond de Lac, Wisconsin. The Mass of Christian Burial was at St. Francis Xavier Parish, Jan. 28. Donations may be made to Brophy College Preparatory, 4701 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, 85012.