COLUMBUS
A life well lived. Joan Isabel Frances Dugan Becker passed away peacefully at her home on October 17, 2018, surrounded by her loved ones.
She was born on December 8, 1924, in La Crosse, Wisconsin, to Thomas M. and Frances Coady Dugan. She was the youngest of five children.
Growing up in La Crosse, Joan attended St. James Grade School, was a 1942 graduate of La Crosse Aquinas Catholic High School and graduated from college in 1946 from what is now the University of Wisconsin La Crosse.
A product of the Depression and World War II, Joan always lived in the moment — with her first paycheck as a new teacher, she bought herself a set of golf clubs and a fur coat.
Joan married her high school sweetheart, William L. “Bill” Becker, on a snowy and bitterly cold day on February 5, 1949 at St. James Catholic Church in La Crosse. They were married for almost 64 years until his passing in 2013.
As a young married couple, Joan and Bill embarked on an adventure and a lifelong business partnership, making their way to Columbus, Indiana in 1949. There, they settled and opened an A&W franchise together that ultimately became Becker’s Drive-In, a Columbus institution for 65 years.
Generations of customers and hundreds of employees knew Joan as “Mrs. B.”
She and Bill managed the restaurant as a full partnership — and she kept the books while they raised five children.
Joan’s interests and commitments were varied and vast. Faith and service were important to Joan.
She was a 69-year parishioner of St. Bartholomew Catholic Church where she had also served in a variety of volunteer and leadership capacities, including president of the parish council.
She loved to read and shared her love of reading with her children and grandchildren. She was a great knitter and gifted children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren sweaters, comforters, scarves and caps until the end of her life.
She was a skilled and competitive card player and played in bridge clubs for decades with many lifelong friends. Joan was a good and competitive athlete, playing tennis in the local league and as a member of Harrison Lake Country Club where she played golf.
A life-long Democrat, Joan supported progressive causes and candidates.
She loved spending time with Bill and her family with winters on Sanibel Island as well as visiting many countries and much of the United States.
She looked for the best in people and she lived her life looking forward, not in the past.
Joan was also predeceased by her brother, Thomas R. Dugan and sisters, Mary Jane Bergerson, Kathleen Elizabeth “Betty” Jolivette and Marguerite Cullen.
Joan’s children survive to celebrate her memory: William T. (Bill) Becker of Columbus, Cathy (David) Gilmore of Indianapolis, Margaret “Mimi” (Nolan) Bingham of Columbus, Rosemary (James) Almond of Lafayette and Anne Becker (Carl Pebworth) of Indianapolis. Joan was a proud and engaged grandmother to 13 grandchildren: Frankie Gilmore Williams (Ryan), Sam Gilmore (Eriko), Lucy Gilmore, Gus Gilmore, Catherine Hageman Winkler (Jordan), Jack Hageman (Abby), Zack Bingham (Katie), Joanne Almond Escalante (Derek), Thomas Almond, Nelson Almond, Hugh Pebworth, Maggie Pebworth and Charlie Pebworth, as well as four great-grandchildren: Connor and Riley Williams, Betty Bingham and Frances Winkler.
She is also survived by her sister-in-law, Katherine Becker Blank of Melbourne, Florida.
Joan served as the matriarch of the extended Dugan/Coady clan and is also survived by her many Irish cousins, nieces and nephews whom she loved very much.
Visitation will be held Sunday, October 21, 2018 from 1 to 5 p.m. at Barkes, Weaver & Glick Funeral Home on Washington Street in Columbus, with the Rosary starting at 4:45 p.m. A Catholic Mass of Christian Burial will be held Monday, October 22, 2018 at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church, starting at 10:30 a.m., with visitation an hour before. A graveside committal service will follow at 2 p.m. in Section 46 at Garland Brook Cemetery, Columbus. Memorial gifts and donations in Joan’s honor may be made to the Bartholomew County Library to purchase new books or to Our Hospice of South Central Indiana.
Online condolences are also available and a video tribute may be viewed at barkesweaverglick.com.
