Robert Joseph Becker

Robert (Bob) Joseph Becker passed away on November 7, 2025 at the age of 90. Bob was the beloved husband of Elizabeth Ann (Henry) Becker for 64 years. He is survived by his children Joseph (Kerri), Julie (Bill Way), Therese Hebert, Jennifer (Brian Mezzanares) and Steven. He dearly loved his grandchildren Payton (Whitney) Huskins, Jordan (Patrick Spann), Ryan (Megann Jones) Becker, Robert Becker, Sarah Hebert, Owen Hebert, and Kyle Hebert, and two great grandchildren Benjamin Huskins and Lillian Spann. He is also survived by his sisters Marcia (LeRoy Marsh), Margie Heimes, and Judy (Tom Olson). He is preceded in death by his loving wife, his parents, Bruno “Chalk” and Bernice (Schaller) Becker, his brother Richard “Dick” (Velta Holdon) Becker and his sister Joyce (Charles Zuckerman). Bob was born April 19th, 1935, at his parents’ farm house in St. Helena, Nebraska. He grew up working on the farm and graduated as the salutatorian from Holy Trinity High School in Hartington, Nebraska before attending St. Benedict’s College in Atchinson, Kansas for two years. He then was a construction worker at Gavins Point Dam on the Missouri River located just upstream of Yankton, S. Dakota during the construction of the concrete powerhouse. Bob volunteered for the draft into the US Army and served from 1956-58 with the HQ Battery, 28th Field Artillery Battalion in the 8th Infantry Division at Bismark Kaserne in Schwabisch Gmund in West Germany. His duties were fire direction control for the 155 mm howitzers in Batteries A, B and C. Upon his return to the United States, he worked as a concrete quality control technician in the early 1960s during the construction of underground vertical concrete silos in southeast Nebraska to store Atlas intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). Bob graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1963 with a BS in Civil Engineering and from Oklahoma State in 1973 with an MS in Civil Engineering. He attended Purdue University for postgraduate studies of construction materials of concrete, asphalt, and aggregates. Bob returned to West Germany as a civilian civil engineer with the US Army Corps of Engineers with his family from 1978-1980 for the rapid buildup of military installations in West Germany, Holland, and Italy during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. He and his family lived in a civilian German apartment on Furstenberger Strasse in Frankfurt, West Germany during these efforts. He completed a 30+ year career with the US Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, in 1995. While there, he was Chief of Materials Section in Engineering Division during the design and construction of the Old River Auxiliary Structure. During the 1970s, Bob and his wife Ann were active with Worldwide Marriage Encounter and served as a team couple with a Catholic priest giving weekend seminars to 25-30 married couples at a time in the New Orleans area. Their goal was to help good marriages become even better. Bob and Ann found that it helped their own marriage as much or more than the other attending couples. Bob attended Our Lady of Divine Providence Catholic Church in Metairie and served several years as a lector and Eucharistic Minister. Bob enjoyed the University of Nebraska football games and going to the College Baseball World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. In lieu of flowers or other gifts, Bob asked that any memorial donations be made to the Building and Maintenance Fund at Our Lady of Divine Providence Catholic Church. In a private ceremony, Bob’s ashes will be placed at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery in Slidell, Louisiana. A memorial service will be held at Our Lady of Divine Providence, 8617 W. Metairie Ave., Metairie on Friday, December 5th, with visitation from 9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m., and a Catholic mass at 10:00 a.m. We would like to extend our most gracious thanks to the staff at Summer House Vista Shores for their constant attention and affection towards our father in his last years. We saw God’s love in your actions every day. Additionally, we are eternally grateful for the care and compassion extended by the Hospice Specialists of Louisiana, particularly Melvin McCree, (who will always be ‘Lou’) for his excellent service and care in the final years of our father’s life. God sent us our indispensable brother when we needed him most. Arrangements by L.A. Muhleisen & Son Funeral Home. To share memories or condolences, please visit www.muhleisen.com

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Robert Joseph Becker

April 19, 1935 - November 7, 2025