Clara Becker

Clara Smullen Becker, 83, passed away peacefully at her home in Bozeman on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008. Clara was born on August 6, 1924 in Norwood, Penn. She graduated from Glen Nor high school in Norwood in 1942, and received her R.N. from Bryn Mawr Hospital School of Nursing in Pennsylvania, two years later. She met the love of her life, Arman (Ted) Becker, when they both attended a camp in Maine, and were married in 1949. Clara and Ted started their life together in New Jersey and welcomed their son, Nelson, there in 1951. Three years later, they were transferred to Caracas, Venezuela. This was a wonderful time in their lives, where they developed an everlasting desire to live in the mountains. In 1957 they were sent to Havana, Cuba, where they had their daughter, Christine, a year later. They lived there for over two years, enduring Castro's revolution, a situation that gave them many years' worth of harrowing stories. After a hasty (but planned) departure from Cuba, they landed in Miami, where they would spend the next five years. Ted was then transferred back to New York, and the family settled in Greenwich, Conn., for the next 19 years, where Clara enjoyed caring for patients as a private duty nurse for many years. In preparation for their eventual retirement, they flew to Salt Lake City one August day in 1973 in search of a set of suitable mountains in which to build their dream home. Driving through Yellowstone Park and into Bozeman, a summer snow storm closed all the passes, enabling them to spend a few days here. In the meantime, they found the perfect building lot with views of the valley and the mountains they came to love. They promptly bought it. It took more than 12 years before they retired to move into their home. In their numerous trips back and forth from Connecticut to finalize their design and plans, they met the folks that would become their best friends. Clara also enjoyed gourmet cooking, sewing, homemaking and tending to her garden. Her trademark was an impeccably prepared and set dinner table, which many of their friends would anxiously anticipate. Clara and Ted were longtime social members of the Riverside Country Club, and patrons of the Museum of the Rockies. Clara was preceded in death by her husband Ted in 2002. She is survived by her son, Nelson Becker, his wife Alexsandra (Hamilton), and their son Nick of Belgrade; and her daughter Christine Becker, of Fort Worth, Texas. Cremation has taken place. A celebration of Clara's life will be held at Dahl Funeral Chapel on Thursday, Jan. 31 at 2 p.m. Should friends desire, in lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Museum of the Rockies, 600 E. Kagy Blvd., Bozeman, 59715, or to the American Cancer Society.