Obituary of Gerry Kinne Becker

Geraldine “Gerry” Reagan (Kinne) Becker was born November 1, 1926 in Dallas, TX to Temple Leroy “T.L.” & Mabel Gertrude (Reagan) Kinne and passed from this life September 30, 2015 in Tulsa, OK at the age of 88. At the age of six, during the Great Depression, Gerry lost her mother. Her father had a mattress factory and was a cotton gin inspector. He lived to be 89. Gerry received a bachelor of science the University of Texas. She majored in Spanish and minored in French. She also studied business, and worked for a grocery store chain based in Dallas. She married Joe A. Becker on 28 February 1954, at the First Methodist Church in Dallas. They moved to Tulsa in 1955 and Joe joined his father, Jack Becker, in the Becker Sales Co., an oilfield supply business. Joe and Gerry first lived in an apartment near 46th and Peoria, and soon became one of the first families to buy a home in the Holliday Hills addition in the neighborhood of Carnegie Elementary School. In 1957 Joe and Gerry became charter members of the New Haven Methodist Church, where all three daughters were married. They transferred their membership to Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in 2005. Formerly members of the White Rock Sailing Club in Dallas, they joined the Sequoyah Yacht Club on Lake Yahola in Tulsa. Joe’s interest in sailing first turned into a new career when he decided to try to sell Snipe sailboats in Tulsa. In 1965, Joe and Gerry named their new business “Tulsa Sail-Craft.” Gerry, with her background in business, wisely managed the finances for both Becker Sales Co. and Tulsa Sail-Craft, along with raising their three daughters and serving as first a Bluebird leader, and then the Camp Fire Girls Captain for Carnegie Elementary School. While the girls were students at Carnegie, she was active in the March of Dimes drive, helped kids to license their bicycles, and she also kept up her Spanish by teaching extracurricular classes before school. Her interests included gardening and tole painting, along with sailing, and she also expertly constructed Easter dresses and other items for her girls. In 1965, Joe and Gerry became charter members of Windycrest Sailing Club on Keystone Lake. In the early years, Gerry sailed with Joe on the Snipe. They were active members of Windycrest and traveled to numerous regional and national sailing regattas. Twice Gerry and Joe were involved when Windycrest hosted the Catalina 22 National Regatta – in 1993 and 1998. While Joe served as the Regatta Chairman, Gerry took control of the details and ensured that everything went smoothly with the help of the regatta committee. The 1993 Catalina 22 Nationals earned Windycrest the prestigious St. Petersburg Yacht Club Trophy for race management. Retiring from Tulsa Sail-Craft with her new role of grandmother, she donned the name “Jelly,” and welcomed the next generation of kids to play on her swing-set while she once again had time for her beautiful gardens. She also developed an interest in genealogy, tracking down numerous distant cousins. She also served the Tulsa Genealogical Society as chair of their Annual July Workshop. When Tulsa Sail-Craft closed in 1998, Joe and Gerry enjoyed going on cruises together and working in their yard. In later years, Gerry became a breast cancer survivor and then Joe’s caregiver. She loved family get-togethers, including a longstanding tradition of celebrating the Advent season by gathering every Sunday of Advent in her and her daughters’ homes. Not long after the loss of Kevin, her beloved son-in-law of 33 years, and Joe, her husband of 59 years, Gerry showed signs of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, which gradually incapacitated her and on 30 September, she slipped peacefully into her Better Place. Gerry was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Joseph Aloysius “Joe” Becker, Jr.; her son-in-law, Kevin Meehan; her sister, Frances Jeanne (Kinne) Cole, and two half-brothers, Erwin Kinne and Milton Kinne. She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Barbara Meehan, Becky & Van Luster, and Sandy & Jeff Hardy, all of Tulsa, OK; her six grandchildren and their spouses of the Tulsa area, Erin (Meehan) & Thomas Isaac “Ike” Shelby, Lisa (Meehan) & Joseph “Boone” Cowan, James Luster, Brian & Chelsea Andrews, Jarrod & Rhiannon Andrews and Alex Andrews; and her niece, Kay (Mrs. Bob) Beal of Athens, Georgia. A memorial service will be held 11:00 a.m. Monday, October 5, 2015 at the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in the Rose Chapel. She will be interred in the Boston Avenue Columbarium. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Susan G. Komen Foundation.