Dates

• Existence: 1918 - 2009

Biography

Virginia N. Becker, farmwoman, homemaker, and community activist, was born in Waterloo, Iowa, to Luella and Ellsworth Howe in 1918. She spent her childhood in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and graduated in 1936 from Cedar Falls High School, where she was active in both sports and Girl Scouts. After doing housework and working at a Girl Scout camp to pay her room and board fees, Becker earned her BA in 1940. She then taught high school business, physical education, and English courses, and later served as a deputy county auditor for nine years. In 1942, she married Robert J. Becker. After World War II, the couple began farming in Bremer County, raising livestock and grain, including a Grade A dairy herd. In 1945, Becker bore her first child, Kathy, and by 1952 she had given birth to Linda, Bruce, Robert, Virginia, and Todd. In 1978, she received the Master Farm Homemaker's Award.

Becker was a member of the Iowa Farm Bureau Women's Committee. She served as chairman of the county Farm Bureau legislative committee and as the District 1 women's chairman on the state committee from 1977 to 1983. She also volunteered with the Waverly Hospital Auxiliary and belonged to the Plainfield American Legion and the Amvets auxiliary, as well as the Bremer County Historical and Genealogical Societies. She also served for twenty years on the Bartels Care Review Committee in Waverly, Iowa. Upon moving to Plainfield, Iowa, in 1978, Becker became active in Plainfield Methodist Church, teaching Sunday School, coordinating missions, and acting as vice president of the United Methodist Women. Becker's political activity included supporting US Senator Charles Grassley's 1980 senatorial campaign and the 1984 campaign of US Representative Cooper Evans, as well as involvement in several other policy-making committees. Virginia Becker passed away in 2009.

Found in 1 Collection or Record: