Ferdinand "Ferd" Victor Becker, the second child and first son of Ferdinand Francis Becker and Mary Ellen McGrath Becker, was born on June 4, 1881 in Wesson, Mississippi. The family moved to Brookhaven and Ferd attended St. Francis School. He graduated from Spring Hill College in Mobile in 1899. In 1898 he received the Good Conduct Book Award, The Life of Pius X; in 1899 he received the First Grammar Examination Book Award, Characteristics from the Writings of John Henry Newman.

Ferd met his future wife, Bettie Thomas Drane, a native of Clarksville, Tennessee, when she visited her brother, Lewis Thomas Drane, who had come to Brookhaven to work for the Illinois Central Railroad (ICR) as a passenger agent. Bettie later came to Brookhaven to work for the ICR in the freight depot.

Bettie one time said she first saw Ferd in the drug store, where he came in and began to hug and kiss a group of young ladies. She thought he was a very "fast" young man, learning later that the young ladies were his sisters and cousins.

Ferd and Bettie were married in Clarksville, Tennessee on February 7, 1907. They lived with Granny Aylward in Brookhaven, where their first child, Bettie Thomas Becker, was born. They were blessed with four more children.

Ferd founded the Underwriters Agency in 1902 and joined his father and brothers in the operation of the Brookhaven Pressed Brick Company and the Brookhaven Creamery.

Ferd was a handsome, up-right man with a commanding presence, retaining his jet black hair until shortly before his death. He was an excellent amateur gardener, with abundant crops of home-grown tomatoes which he shared with many.

His wife, Bettie, died in 1949. He married Gladys Bridges of Inverness, Mississippi on December 8, 1951. Ferd died February 14, 1972.

(Material from biography written by F. F. Becker, II for "The Becker Family" published for the 1994 Becker Reunion, and donated to this memorial courtesy of Bettie Hatcher Cox)

The following obituary was published in the Daily Leader, Tuesday, February 15, 1972:

"Final Rites Wednesday At 11 A.M. For F. V. Becker"
Funeral services for Ferdinand Victor Becker, 90, will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday from Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic Church with the Rev. John Rietti officiating assisted by the Rev. P. A. Michel. Burial will be in the Catholic Cemetery. Mr. Becker died Monday afternoon in King's Daughters Hospital where he had been a patient the past several weeks.

One of seven brothers and five daughters of a longtime prominent family in Brookhaven, Mr. Becker was the son of the late F. F. And Mary Ellen McGrath Becker. From early manhood and throughout his lifetime residency in Brookhaven, Mr. Becker had been active in, and in many cases instrumental in the organization of, numerous civic, cultural and social organizations in this city. He was always vitally interested in any programs for the betterment of Brookhaven and its people. He was loved and respected by persons of all ages.

Mr. Becker was chairman of the board of Brookhaven Pressed Brick Company. He had been associated for many years with an insurance agency he founded in this city. He was a lifelong active communicant of Saint Francis of Assisi Church.

Mr. Becker is survived by his wife, Gladys Bridges Beckers; three sons, F. F. Becker II, Walter D. Becker and Henry Victor Becker, all of Brookhaven; two daughters, Mrs. Bettie B. Steffan, St. Louis, Mo., and Mrs. Van Hatcher, Brookhaven; two brothers, Jasper Becker Sr. And James A. Becker Sr., both of Brookhaven; a sister, Mrs. Kathleen Weuescher of Mobile. He is also survived by 12 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

The Rosary will be said tonight at seven o'clock at Hartman's Funeral Home. The body will remain at the funeral home until time for services Wednesday.

The family request that donations to the American Cancer Society be made in memory of Mr. Becker.