Last Updated on October 8, 2017 by cassnetwork
Representatives from three local organizations accepted gifts on Oct. 4, 2017 from the estate of Logansport attorney, Nelson J. Becker.
Gifts of $100,000 each were presented to the Cass County Community Foundation, the Cass County Family Y and First United Methodist Church.
Becker was a 1958 graduate of Logansport High School. He practiced law in Logansport from 1968 until his death in April 2017. He served six terms as State Representative of Cass and Carroll Counties from 1972 to 1984, serving as Majority Whip from 1977 to 1980 and as Speaker Pro Tempore from 1980 to 1984.
Those who attended Wednesday’s announcement reminisced about his passion to make Cass County “a wonderful place to live.”
Attorney Andy David announced the gifts and said that Becker described Cass County as a place where you could have a “good life.”
Becker’s wife, Dixie, agreed: “He always said ‘what better place could you be?'”
“The Becker family has a long history of philanthropy and service and so it is only fitting that Nelson would have remembered his community this way,” said CCCF President Deanna Crispen.
She said the community foundation holds several funds started by Nelson’s parents, Ed and Mary Lewis Becker.
“The family fund is a permanent endowment and the income it produces will be used for our community grant cycle,” Crispen said
Derreck Parkevich, executive director of the Cass County Family Y, said Nelson was “always a big influence and a big advocate for the Y.”
“Nelson’s dad in 1967 was a big part of reason for building the new building,” Parkevich said.
The Mary Lewis Natatorium at the Cass County Family Y, is currently undergoing extensive renovations that Parkevich says will position it to serve the community for many years to come.