Jamie was the ninth child born in the Becker family. He joined the bustling crowd of four older brothers and four older sisters, with three younger siblings to follow him. Surviving a serious bout of typhoid fever when he was seven, Jamie remained relatively small in size. Loving sports, he was part of many athletic teams as a player, manager, coach, referee, or even water boy. He enjoyed coaching a 100 pound football team made up of many of his nephews. As an adult, living near Brookhaven High School, he ardently supported all BHS teams as advisor, motivator, and confidant to young athletes. After finishing high school, Jamie was sent to Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, along with his older brothers John and Pete. Later, Jamie enrolled in Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he planned to read for the law.

International developments cut his schooling short when the United States was drawn into World War I against Germany. Jamie recalled being on Massachusetts Avenue after the declaration of war, watching the German diplomats burning their document, preparatory to returning to their homeland. Jamie volunteered for service in the Army, joining a medical unit organized in New Orleans. Rising to the rank of Sergeant Major, he handled the administrative duties of the hospital unit in France. Jamie enjoyed time off when he could explore the countryside with an occasional trip to Paris. Jamie said he learned to really walk tramping around France. Even as a man in his seventies, Jamie walked erect at a quick step. At one time, he was billeted with a family in Limoges, the great china manufacturing center. After the war, when he had married, he ordered sets of china from his Limoges friends.

Back at home after his Army service, he went to work at the Brookhaven Creamery under his father and remained there until his retirement, taking great pride in the quality of the trademarked Brookhaven Butter. Jamie continually upgraded the plant and advised farmers how to improve milk production. Jamie was deeply involved in the business and community life of his home town. He took an active part in veterans' affairs, especially through the American Legion. He served on the School Board, the Draft Board and was a long-time member of the Kiwanis Club.

Jamie was faithfully committed to St. Francis Catholic Church through his lifetime. Every single night Jamie knelt on the floor at his bedside for a final prayer. He incorporated true Christian virtues in his long and productive life and left strong memories of his good nature and loving kindness to his fellow man. His many grandchildren who knew him as Bampaw thrilled to watch him stand on his head under the pecan trees out back. On that sad day he was lowered into his grave, his grandchildren sang all the verses to "He went to the animal fair, the birds and the beasts were there" which Bampaw had sung to them on happier mornings.

(Material for this biography obtained from "The Becker Family" 1994 Becker Family Reunion, and contributed to this memorial courtesy of Bettie Hatcher Cox)