A Eulogy

William “Bill” Becker passed away three days ago after a long life of 90 years.

Bill was my teacher all through my bachelor’s degree at Indiana State College (now Indiana University of Pennsylvania). He was NOT a tuba player but was a trumpeter. At that time he taught all the brass except horns. He also conducted the Brass Ensemble and taught other classes–as was common in many smaller colleges at the time. I went there in 1961. I believe Bill was just in his 2nd year on the faculty–right out of a PhD from
The Univ. of Iowa. A trumpeter with doctorate was VERY rare at the time.

My memories of working with him are that he gave me my first ever private tuba lessons. He was honest about his limited knowledge of the tuba and its (at the time) sparse literature...