Becker Financial Services, Inc. is the culmination of more than a century of business experience and creativity. The Becker family's long and exciting history of owning and operating businesses and business ventures began in 1890, when Gustav Becker, along with his father J.S. Becker and his brother Albert Becker, founded the Becker Brewing and Malting Company in Ogden, Utah. The company manufactured various kinds of beer, near beer and soft drinks, which it sold to regional markets throughout the West, including Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, and California. In 1906, Becker Brewing and Malting Company (BBMC) became agents for the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association. The company survived resistance from local religious organizations opposed to alcoholic beverages, national Prohibition, the Great Depression and two World Wars.
The surprising success of the Becker Brewing and Malting Company in a "dry" state and in the midst of a community which objected to alcohol on religious grounds, derived from the winning combination of the Beckers' business acumen and their commitment to community service. Far from being discouraged by the opposition of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, the Beckers engaged with the LDS community and won acceptance from church leaders by providing free ginger ale for their family reunions. Both of the Becker brothers were active in civic and service organizations, including the Ogden Chamber of Commerce, the Elks, the Rotary Club and various Masonic organizations. Gustav also served as director on the boards of a variety of businesses, ranging from the Amalgamated Sugar Company and the Ogden State Bank to the Utah-Idaho Central Railway Company and the Ogden Morning Examiner. Albert was also involved in business and politics, serving the Utah House of Representatives in 1929.
In addition to their business ventures, the Becker brothers also established a family tradition of quiet service, often doing good by stealth and giving assistance to those in need without receiving public recognition. Frequently their assistance took the form of surreptitiously continuing to paying salaries to workers who were permanently disabled and their families.
The Becker Brewing and Malting Company continued operations until 1968. When Robert L. Becker, son of Albert Becker and then-president of Becker Brewing and Malting Company, died suddenly in a car accident Page, AZ in 1965, his widow continued the family tradition and became a business force in her own right, no small feat for a middle-aged woman in that era. Joan Woodward Becker returned to school and received her Master's degree from Thunderbird School of Global Management. She went on to become a successful private commercial real estate investor in Phoenix, AZ and passed her skill set and talents to her son Robert Woodward Becker and her grandson Robert L. Becker.
Robert Woodward Becker has worked in the commercial real estate and financial service business for many years, and has dedicated countless hours to community service. He has assumed leadership positions in a number of church and service organizations, including serving as past president of the Lions group.
In 2001, Robert L. Becker, together with his father Robert Woodward Becker, created Becker Financial Services, Inc., which continues to thrive.