CHARLES A. BECKER, A BRIEF HISTORY

Charles Becker was born in 1915, St. Louis, Missouri. His father and uncle were two cofounders of the Benjamin Moore Paint Company. When Charles was nine, his father died, leaving behind to his wife and only son his share of the paint company. That inheritance has become the legacy which is now the Charles A. Becker Foundation.

After serving in WWII, Charles, or Charlie as friends called him, moved to Phoenix, Arizona, from St. Louis, with his mother. Now a young professional, he had proven himself responsible to accept management of the family inheritance, and also became successful investing in the stock market. Charlie appreciated his good fortune, and while making the most of it, he also chose to live relatively modestly.

Charlie loved to travel around the globe, a passion that began early as a child, and he continued to do so often as his schedule permitted throughout his life. The experience opened his eyes, both to the world's wonders, as well as its intense indigence. He gained a great appreciation for being born in the United States and accepted a responsibility for helping those less fortunate than himself. Charlie did not have children of his own, biologically anyway. But his dedication to the causes of children and young people made him a father in every other sense of the word. Over his life he helped many young people who exhibited talent but lacked means. He took extended family and friends on once-in-a-lifetime trips to faraway places. He funded a young man's college education and helped him start a small business. He enjoyed helping those who needed a lift up.

Charlie had a desire to somehow do more, and established the Charles A. Becker Foundation in 1996 as part of his estate plans. The Foundation mission, "to help children and youth who have little or no financial means to receive education and other valuable life experiences, and to help create encouraging atmospheres where children and young people will excel to make a positive difference in their lives and for society," naturally evolved out of his personal wish.

The Foundation was funded during Charlie's lifetime with a series of charitable trusts and outright gifts, primarily so he could experience the good work the Foundation could do. When Charlie passed in 2000, most of the balance of his assets flowed to the Foundation. In turn, the Foundation will support in perpetuity three charities chosen by Charlie; Desert Mission, part of John C. Lincoln Hospital, in Phoenix, Arizona, Fremont Presbyterian Church in Sacramento, California, and Saints and Sinners in San Francisco, California.

Charlie planned carefully and accomplished something that can last forever. It wasn't about making money, it was about making a difference. He helped generations of kids, both past and yet to come, and gained an incredible sense of fulfillment doing it. Legacies seldom get better.