Obituary - Barbara Strife Becker

Pioneer Woman Of Log Cabin Days, Dies In Croghan

Mrs. Barbara Strife Becker, 94, widow of John Becker, oldest resident of the village of Croghan, died Friday afternoon at her home of a heart ailment.

Funeral services were held from St. Stephen's church Tuesday morning at 10 with a requiem high mass celebrated by Rev. Amadeus Burke.  The body was placed in the vault and burial will be in St. Stephen's Cemetery in the spring.

Mrs. Becker is survived by five daughters, Sister Christine Bathildis, Mother Superior of St. Mary's Hospital, Quincy, Ill.; Mrs. Cecilia Kerfien, and Mrs. Harvey (Agnes) Bush, Croghan; Mrs. Martha Strong, Watertown, and Mrs. Henry (Frances) Bush, Lowville; 24 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren  and one brother, Peter A. Strife who lives in the family homestead at Strife's Corners near Croghan.

Mrs. Becker was born at Strife's Corners, Sept. 11, 1852, a daughter of the late Michael and Catherine Dicob Strife, pioneer settlers of the community of Kirschnerville where they cleared the land and built a log cabin, which was later replaced by a frame house, which is now occupied by her brother.

She was married to Mr. Becker of Rochester, April 21, 1874.  The couple located at Jerden Falls, near Croghan, where Mr. Becker was a teacher in the local school and also a bookkeeper for the tannery, a flourishing business in the community.  The couple moved to the village of Croghan in 1891 where Mr. Becker served as Justice of the Peace for several years.  He died in 1930.  Thirteen children were born to the couple and four of them died in the diphtheria epidemic of 1882.

Mrs. Becker was a member of the Third Order of St. Francis and the Altar and Rosary Society of
St. Stephen's church, which will meet at the church at 7:30 Monday evening to recite the rosary.

Obit. Barbara Strife Becker. Thrus., March 13, 1947. The Lowville Leader. Access date 18 Jan. 2016 <www.http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/>

Barbara Strife Becker in her garden.

St. Stephen's Church, Croghan, NY, original scanned postcard.