Jack L. Becker

Jack L. Becker, 88, of Boone, Iowa, passed away on Thursday, October 17, 2024, at Eastern Star Masonic Home in Boone.
Visitation with the family present to greet friends will be from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 2, 2024, at Schroeder-Stark-Welin Funeral Home in Boone. A private family graveside service will be at Rose Hill Cemetery by Luther, Iowa at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the Becker Family Trust to be used for charitable causes and community betterment. Memorial donations can be sent to C/O Schroeder-Stark-Welin Funeral Home, P.O. Box 116, Boone, Iowa 50036.
Jack L. Becker, 88, of Boone Iowa, peacefully passed away at the Eastern Star Masonic Home nursing facility, in Boone Iowa, surrounded by family, on Thursday, October 17, 2024. He became a townhome resident of the Eastern Star residential community in April 2021. He was born on November 30, 1935 in Boone Iowa the son of John and Ethel (Merriam) Becker. First married to Lois V. Hicks, together they had two children: Mark Jon and Mary Lisa. Later, Jack married Donna L. (Arnold) McKernan.
Jack grew up in north Boone, maintaining the family gardens, properties, and livestock. As a boy they rode ponies to the various timber and creeks on the outskirts of Boone, particularly near Bass Point, playing in water and exploring the country side. A descendent of the Merriam family from Ogden, he enjoyed extra tickets to the Merriam carnivals and often worked for his many uncles in a machine shop, lumber yard, sale barn, and farms around Boone County. He attended Lowell elementary and graduated from Boone High School. An avid athlete, he was awarded a football scholarship to Buena Vista University in Storm Lake Iowa. He later transferred to the University of Northern Iowa where his drafting studies earned him a job in the Waterloo plant at John Deere. Drafted into the United States Army, Jack served as a mechanic, Private First Class, and spent the majority of his military service in Fort Lewis Washington.
A design engineer, Jack spent nearly thirty years working for John Deere and retired from the Ankeny plant. Notable achievements include contributing to the redesign of the 3010 and 4010 series tractors into the 3020 and 4020 series, the creation of the John Deere 6000 hi-cycle sprayer series, and modifications to various John Deere cotton strippers. Known for his mechanical creativity, problem solving skill, ability to envision, and artistic design, his impact is seen throughout agricultural settings to this day.
Jack pursued a call into Christian ministry on a voluntary part-time basis, serving as a pastor in the Church of God of Prophecy (Boone, Iowa), a congregational lay minister at Bible Faith Church (Story City, Iowa), and founding pastor of Eternal Life Mission Church (Luther, Iowa). In the late 70's, he created and hosted a thirty minute religious radio broadcast, from his home studio, that spanned the United States over various radio stations.
An avid sportsman, Jack enjoyed the outdoors by camping, hunting, and fishing. With a love of animal husbandry and small farming, he built and tended an acreage in rural Boone County that served as his home, for fifty two years.
He was preceded in death by his parents John and Ethel Becker, brother Charles Dean Becker, and grandson Joshua Marvin Becker. Survivors include his wife Donna L. Becker of Boone, son Mark Jon (Susan) Becker of Urbandale, daughter Mary Lisa Becker, granddaughter Alyssa Susan Becker of Urbandale, sister Jean Eskridge of Savanah Georgia, sister-in-law Eunice Becker of Cedar Rapids Iowa, numerous nieces and nephews, step daughters Devon C. McKernan, Jennifer K. Nwoke of Wichita Kansas, Katrina Van Kleeck Kasirye of Boston Massachusetts, and step son Montgomery G. McKernan of Ames Iowa, and several step grandchildren.
Schroeder-Stark-Welin Funeral Home, 515-432-4550.