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Permanent LinkRepresentative William Becker View All Years
William Becker, retired pharmacist and former state legislator, died at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, January 22, 1961; born in Elkader, Iowa, March 26, 1874, the son of German-born parents, John and Caroline Stemmer Becker; graduated from Elkader high school in 1890, attended the State University of Iowa college of pharmacy and became a registered pharmacist in 1891; established a drug store at Elkader in partnership with his brother, John, January 18, 1892; married to Mollie Schmidt in 1899, a daughter being born to them in 1907; assumed sole ownership of the business in 1907 and operated the pharmacy until its sale to his nephew, George H. Schmidt, in 1916; was a member of the Elkader school board ten years, elected Republican state representative from Clayton County in 1914, and re-elected in 1916, 1918 and 1920; served as mayor of Elkader from 1922 and 1924; named an Iowa Pioneer Lawmaker in 1935, continued to make his home in Elkader, had been in semi-retirement in recent years, but remained interested in pharmacy and periodically assisted in the prescription department of Schmidt’s Rexall Drug store; qualified as a 50-year pharmacist in 1941, would have completed 69 years as a registered pharmacist in March, was one of the oldest registered pharmacists in Iowa, and also was a 50-year member of the Masonic lodge and Eastern Star; his wife, Minerva, died April 5, 1953; survived by a step-son, Dr. H. D. Meyer, Evanston, Illinois.