Alex Becker Obituary

Alex Becker
07/27/1935 - 12/16/2024
Alex Becker, loving and devoted son, husband, father and grandfather, died peacefully at his home on December 16, 2024, at the age of 89.
Born in Poland, he survived the Holocaust thanks to a brave Polish family and his courageous mother Ruth. After the war Alex immigrated alone to Montreal Canada, where he was later joined by his mother. It was at McGill University where he met his future wife, Sheila. They married in 1960 and went on to have three children.
He completed his PhD in Physics at McGill in 1964, did postdoctoral work at the Centre de Recherches Geophysiques in France and then joined the faculty at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal. His teaching career ultimately brought him and his family to Berkeley, California, where he became a tenured professor in 1981. He mentored generations of graduate students at UC Berkeley, many of whom now hold positions in public and private institutions worldwide.
Alex travelled widely as part of his work. He visited all the continents, from the Canadian Arctic to China, Australia, South America, Africa, and Europe. Even after retirement, his exploration continued with sea voyages to New Zealand, Europe, and South Africa. He also captained his own boat at Pillar Point Harbor, California, which he named Sichera after his three granddaughters, and spent several years helping restore a historic Half Moon Bay fishing vessel called the Irene.
Above all, Alex was devoted to his family and enjoyed nothing more than sharing good food, funny stories, and a bit of wisdom with his children and grandchildren, who will miss him dearly. He is survived by his children Jeff, Eleanor, and Marc, their spouses Maxine, Ron and Sarah, and his grandchildren Simone, Alexander, Daniel, Andre, Chelsea and Rachel.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by San Francisco Chronicle on Dec. 31, 2024.

Memories and Condolences
for Alex Becker

12 Entries

Jeanette Grenby (née Erdberg)

May 7, 2025

I don´t know whether this message will reach Alex´s family. Sadly, I have lost touch with them.
I was very distressed to lean of Alex´s passing, having come across this announcement on the Internet almost by accident.
Born in London in 1940, I live in St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK, and am possibly the only surviving member of his family on his mother´s side. We were technically distant cousins, but since the family was decimated in the Holocaust, we cherished those few survivors such as Alex, his mother Ruth and his aunt Blanca.
In fact, as one of only two male relatives left, it was Alex who `gave me away´ under the chuppah at my marriage to the late Trevor Grenby in London in 1965.
We kept in sporadic touch with him and Sheila through most of his lifetime, and even visited each other in our respective homes. I last saw Alex a few years ago when he came to visit his younger son Marc who was at the time living not too faraway from me, and I recall having a very enjoyable lunch with him. He was always good company, and I admired his adventurous nature - even into advanced age. Although we were separated by thousands of miles, I will still miss him, and send my belated condolences to his children and grandchildren.

Greg DeMoully

May 2, 2025

Alex started a professorship at UC Berkeley in 1981. I was a brand new masters student at the time. Alex was also the director of research for Questor Surveys, a Canadian contractor who specialized in collecting Airborne Electromagnetic data using the INPUT system. I was tasked with creating an interpretation methodology for the INPUT data. Alex and I had a great professional success on the project. After the project was completed I delivered and installed my automated interpretation software at the Questor Surveys office in Toronto. I subsequently presented a paper at the annual SEG meeting. And an article that Alex and I collaborated on, was accepted and published in the technical journal "Geophysics".

As a young man at UC Berkeley I really needed someone to take me under their wing. Alex did that and more. About 7 years ago I had the occasion to pass through Half Moon Bay to have lunch with Alex and to be able to thank him for everything. In Alex's typical fashion he said he really didn't do anything. I am extremely grateful for Alex. With Alex's guidance I became more than I could ever imagine. Alex was a very good man, and even though 40 years have now passed, I dearly remember Alex, just as if it was yesterday.

George Carlson

March 26, 2025

I worked with Dr. Becker at Questor Surveys. He was a kind and delightful person.

Ki Ha lee

Planted Trees

Karl Kappler

January 24, 2025

I feel fortunate to have had a teacher and mentor in Alex during my time at Berkeley and to have stayed in contact for many years thereafter. Alex's valuable advice dispensed in his signature combination of unminced words, quick wit, and sometimes irreverent sense of humor was an inspiration and will be missed.

David and Yvette Silverberg

Planted Trees

Jamie rector

January 7, 2025

I am the last of the Mineral Engineering faculty still teaching Berkeley. Alex was an important mentor of mine when I started as a young assistant professor in 1992 . I remember those days fondly . My sincere condolences to Alex´s family .

Nestor Cuevas

January 6, 2025

My sincere condolences to Alex's family. I, among many other, was privileged and fortunate to be among those he shared his vast knowledge with.

Guimin Liu

January 6, 2025

In Memory of Professor Alex Becker by Guimin Liu

It was very sad for me to learn Prof Alex Becker passed away. I got the sad news when I was thinking of getting in contact with him in this holiday season. I am one of Alex Becker´s PhD students and have fond memories of him. I have kept in contact with him until a few years ago. My wife and I went to see him on the Christmas Day 2017 in his home in Half Moon Bay and we had dinner together in a restaurant there. Attached is a photo of us taken at the restaurant (Photo 1). This was the last time I saw him.

(Photo 1: Alex with Guimin and Junni)

I became Alex´s Ph.D student in UC Berkeley in 1985 and graduated in 1989. When my 3D numerical modeling results were checked and proved correct by a scale model experiment, Alex invited me to a meal to celebrate and asked me to choose a restaurant. I chose a Chinese restaurant on Shattuck Ave and ordered a crab meal. I had not eaten much seafood up to that point of my life and heard crab was delicious. This was definitely a good opportunity to try it. I remember there were many crab legs and I had to use my hands to tackle and open the crab leg shells. It was quite messy and difficult but fun too. Alex was amused and smiled watching me tackle the crab legs.

I came to Australia working with BHP after I got my Ph.D degree under Alex´s supervision. I had many opportunities to visit Alex in UC Berkeley and kept close contact with him. One day I got a phone call from Hu Ping, deputy director of Institute of Geophysical and Geochemical Exploration (IGGE) located in Langfang near Beijing. He wanted to invite Prof Alex Becker to give some lectures at the Institute and also give some advice for an airborne transient electromagnetic (ATEM) exploration system that the Chinese Research Institute was developing. Alex was a well known expert in the area of AEM systems. So I helped to make the arrangement for Alex´s trip to Langfang, China. My wife and I also went to Langfang and met Alex and Hu Ping there. Attached is a photo taken with Alex and Hu Ping outside the Research Institute (Photo 2). Alex contributed very valuable experiences and ideas for the ATEM system development at IGGE. One thing that I remember clearly is that Alex requested to get a ride to the Tianjing Seaport after the visit so that he could take his sea voyage to Korea. Alex loved sea voyages.

(Photo 2: Alex in the middle, Guimin on his right, Junni and Hu Ping on his left)

One fond thing that I shared with Alex was that our wedding anniversary date was the same on 27 December. We had the opportunity to celebrate our anniversary together a couple of times. Once my wife Junni and I invited Alex, his wife Sheila and their son to our apartment in San Francisco for dinner for the wedding anniversary celebration. It was just a few days before their son was going away to get married also on 27 December!

I will miss you Alex!

Erika Gasperikova (UC/LBNL)

January 5, 2025

Please accept my deepest condolences for your loss. Alex will be remembered as a hard-working, honest, and respectable man. He was my teacher and then a colleague of many years. He will be missed. My thoughts are with you.
(Pictures of Alex and UC students in 1998, and his LBNL colleagues in 2007.)