C. Edwin Becraft

Clarence Edwin Becraft went home to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on March 12, 2025. Anyone that knew him, could easily affirm that he heard God say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
He was the greatest man we ever knew, and more than just family members would agree. His greatness lay in the fact that years ago he asked Jesus into his life. Dad lived his life filled with the love of God and poured that love out into other people's lives. Qualities that describe Dad include– love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control –this is because they are the fruits of God's Holy Spirit. Now Dad has been lifted up to Higher Ground because he bowed down his knee to the One who created him and loved Him.
Dad was married to Mom (June Bentley Becraft) for 68 years. They met on a blind date set up by his friend Henry Miles. And as they say, the rest is history. Dad often said, "It must have been the Lord Himself who brought us together," and "It was Divine Intervention," which is written on their tombstone to honor the love and commitment they showed to each other, as well as others.
He loved her dearly. Mom battled Alzheimer's for 14 years, and Dad was right by her side each step of the way. When Mom fell and broke her hip and Dad could no longer take care of her in their home, she went to live at Sunrise of Rockville. Dad went down and visited her and shared dinner with her every single day, more times than not, being the one to spoon feed her. It was a true picture of love and commitment to their wedding vows.
Early in their dating relationship, Dad played the bass fiddle in a jazz combo band. Mom quickly got tired of sitting in the audience by herself, without her dance partner, and told Dad it was either her or the bass fiddle. So, Dad gave up playing in the combo. He would frequently recall the story to others, and in good fun would say, "I think I made the right choice." Often followed by a kiss on the cheek to Mom if she was nearby.
Dad went by various names. His mom gave him the nickname Buddy, while some friends called him Bones because of his tall and lanky stature, and in the Air Force his call name was Slim. He usually went by Ed and only people who really didn't know him called him Clarence (although we think his friend and boss, Mr. Hubert, would sometimes jokingly call him Clarence). Of course, he was Dad to us and once grandchildren came along (Ben, Josiah, Corrie, Hannah, and Sam), he became Grandad. You would often hear him answer the phone with, "It's Grandad," instead of a customary "hello."
In his life, Dad routinely put the needs of others before his own. He was extremely industrious and giving even at a young age. He bought his mom (Gammy to us) her first vacuum cleaner by making monthly installment payments to the store owner using the money earned from his paper route. When his father (Pop-Pop to us) tried to pay the store owner the balance, he replied, "No Buddy and I have a business arrangement." Dad was also the very first Eagle Scout ever in the Gaithersburg area, an honor that was easily exhibited by the characteristics he already embodied in his younger years.
Dad was a person of great character. His life is a picture of beating the odds. When he was 12 years old, he had a paper route that was seven miles long and his dog, Scrappy, would run along with him each and every morning- a memory he would often bring up. Dad worked his way and paid his way through college at George Washington University in Washington D.C. During the summers, he would work long, hot hours in a canning factory somewhere between 5:00am to 11pm. He would hitchhike into Washington to attend his classes each day. During the semester, he was out on Route 355 around 5:00 a.m., hitchhiking a ride with farmers heading into Washington to sell their food products. Later in the day, after classes, he would catch another ride to the Naval Hospital and hitchhike from there back to Gaithersburg. Dad was a walk-on pitcher for the GWU baseball team. He pitched so well that GWU gave him a partial athletic scholarship. At the end of his collegiate baseball career, the former major league Washington Senators offered him a contract to play in their minor league system, but he chose to pursue a career in construction.
While Dad was getting his degree, he had an English professor tell him that he was not college material and that he should think about getting out of school and to get a service job. Dad persevered, though, and he earned a degree in Civil Engineering. There is currently an office on the campus named after him. From 1946-47, Dad was in the United States Air Force upon being drafted.
Early in his career, he was working long hours with the national subcontractor, Anning-Johnson. After several years of this, he went to his boss and said, "There's got to be a better way to make a living." His boss said to him, "Well, have you ever tried sales?"
An HR psychologist from Chicago evaluated Dad and determined that Dad didn't have the right personality or what it takes to be a salesman. Yet Dad went on to become the number one salesperson in the nation for this company. In fact, it was rumored that the production team had to work hard just to keep up with his volume of sales.
Dad was always somebody that loved and cared about other people. He remained true to putting other people first. He eventually became Executive Vice President of Glen Construction and in 2012, the American Subcontractors Association of Metro Washington honored him with the Arthur C. Meushaw Award (lifetime achievement) for his significant contribution to the construction industry throughout his career. He also served as a leader in the Associated Builders and Contractors and had an illustrious 55-year career in construction always treating people with honesty, courtesy, and respect.
Despite all his time and effort and hard work in his career, Dad never lost sight of his family priorities. He still continually invested time in his family – Mom first, and then their two sons, Ed and Jeff. Dad would often come home from work, take off his tie (without changing out of his business clothes) and throw the baseball with us. Throughout his life, he always remained very dedicated to his church family as well.
Dad was one of the most loving, kind, patient people you would ever meet. He would get the names of a waitress or a waiter and call them by their name and talk to them and treat them with courtesy and respect.
He treated everybody with love, courtesy, and respect. Everybody.
His parents were Clarence Edward Becraft (Pop-Pop) and Sue Irwin Becraft (Gammy). He had two sisters: Barbara Becraft (age 95, still living in their childhood home) and Nancy Luther (recently deceased, age 89). His sisters would both frequently praise him on how great of a brother he was, and admired his love and loyalty to June.
C. Edwin Becraft was married to his wife, June Elizabeth Becraft (grandkids called her Bubbe), father of Ed Becraft, Jr., M.D. (wife, Sue, and children, Ben and Sam) and Jeff Becraft (wife, Brenda, and children, Josiah, Corrie, and Hannah). He is the grandfather (Grandad) of the five grandchildren who were just listed and the great-grandfather of James, Henry, and Luke (children of Ben & Casey Becraft), and Eleanor and Emerson (children of Josiah & Deanna Becraft), and Levi and Caleb (children of Ben & Corrie Chambers). There was no question that he was the patriarch and set the loving atmosphere for our family. He was 98 years old, just 12 days shy of turning 99.
As one friend recently stated, "It has been an honor for us to call your Dad a friend. And he was so much more than just a friend. He was one of those people who changes lives, ours included."
C. Edwin Becraft was filled with the love of God and he was always vocally thankful for that and for all of the blessings he had received from God. He spent his whole life sharing that love with others.
A service celebrating his life will be held on Saturday, March 22 at Epworth United Methodist Church facility, 9008 Rosemont Dr., Gaithersburg, MD 20877. Visitation is at 11:30 a.m. The celebration of his life service will be at 12:30 p.m.
If you would like to make a donation in his honor, you can contribute to the "C. Edwin Becraft" scholarship fund through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) for students who can learn about the love of Jesus through sports. Both Ed and Jeff were introduced to FCA by Ed and June and attribute their relationships with God to these camps. Visit http://MidlandsFCA.Life/Becraft to make a gift using FCA's secure online platform. Or make checks out to FCA and in the memo write "Becraft Scholarships" and mail to: Midlands FCA, P.O. Box 12657, Columbia, SC 29211.
Also, if you want to read an article about Ed as a highlighted GW alumnus, you can click here: http://cee.engineering.gwu.edu/mr-c-edwin-ed-becraft
If you watch the service live stream, you can go to: http://www.epworthunited.org/worshiponline
On this page you will select which platform they wish to view it on. It will be labeled "C. Edwin Becraft Memorial Service."
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