Lawrence W. Becker ’51

Larry was born Nov. 14, 1929, in Rochester, N.Y., to William H. and Alcey Cole Becker, the youngest of 10 children.

He attended John Marshall High School in Rochester and put himself through Princeton on scholarship, loans, and numerous campus jobs. He majored in psychology, was editor of the Freshman Herald, and belonged to Cannon Club. He played varsity baseball and roomed with Ed Irvin. For him, baseball culminated in the team’s taking part in the NCAA’s 1951 College World Series held in Omaha.

Larry served for two years as a first lieutenant in the Marine Corps at Quantico, Camp Pendleton, and Korea. He married Bette MacDonald in 1953.

His business career was entirely in mortgage banking in Palo Alto, San Francisco, and Pasadena. When he retired he was president of what was then the First Interstate Mortgage Co.

Larry had successfully battled different forms of cancer at least seven times over the past 30 years. Most recently he dealt with throat cancer, which had spread to his lungs. He died Aug. 2, 2013, in Montrose, Colo. He is survived by Bette; their children, Jennifer Hemond, Bob, Scott, Marty, and Kent; nine grandchildren; and his brothers, Russell and Clyde.