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Jasper Benoit “Jap” Becker

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Jasper Benoit “Jap” Becker

Birth
Death
30 Jan 1997 (aged 97)
Burial
Brookhaven, Lincoln County, Mississippi, USA Add to Map
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Jasper "Jap" Becker was the seventh son and eleventh child of Ferdinand Francis and Mary McGrath Becker. He learned well from being with his older brothers, and thus, started school in the second grade, and then skipped the third grade. He was 14 and in the 10th grade when his father's bank closed during the Panic of 1910. He left school to begin working at McGrath's store, never graduating high school and never attending college. At age 16, he went alone to Chicago to take a two month course in window decorating for McGrath's. Later that year, Jap went alone to New York City to buy the first read-to-wear fashions for ladies. The idea of women buying dresses already made was a new one at that time. He also went to Michigan to purchase stock at the furniture fairs. For year, he was instrumental in producing the fashion shows held on McGrath's porch roof which became a big event in Brookhaven, MS each season. Jap and his brother, John, opened Benoits, a ladies specialty store, in 1922. John moved to Jackson, MS in 1929, leaving Jap the sole owner. Benoits became well-known and well-respected, continuing to operate in Brookhaven until 1984. At the time of its closing, Benoits was owned by Jap's nephew, Victor Becker.

Jap married Eloise Tippins October 23, 1931, and in 1934 they bought the house at 518 S. Jackson Street for $3,200. There they raised their three children, Margie, Jappy Jr., and Judy.

(Source: excerpts from biography, as written by Jasper Benoit Becker's daughter, Judy Becker Andry, for "The 1994 Reunion of The Becker Family")
Jasper "Jap" Becker was the seventh son and eleventh child of Ferdinand Francis and Mary McGrath Becker. He learned well from being with his older brothers, and thus, started school in the second grade, and then skipped the third grade. He was 14 and in the 10th grade when his father's bank closed during the Panic of 1910. He left school to begin working at McGrath's store, never graduating high school and never attending college. At age 16, he went alone to Chicago to take a two month course in window decorating for McGrath's. Later that year, Jap went alone to New York City to buy the first read-to-wear fashions for ladies. The idea of women buying dresses already made was a new one at that time. He also went to Michigan to purchase stock at the furniture fairs. For year, he was instrumental in producing the fashion shows held on McGrath's porch roof which became a big event in Brookhaven, MS each season. Jap and his brother, John, opened Benoits, a ladies specialty store, in 1922. John moved to Jackson, MS in 1929, leaving Jap the sole owner. Benoits became well-known and well-respected, continuing to operate in Brookhaven until 1984. At the time of its closing, Benoits was owned by Jap's nephew, Victor Becker.

Jap married Eloise Tippins October 23, 1931, and in 1934 they bought the house at 518 S. Jackson Street for $3,200. There they raised their three children, Margie, Jappy Jr., and Judy.

(Source: excerpts from biography, as written by Jasper Benoit Becker's daughter, Judy Becker Andry, for "The 1994 Reunion of The Becker Family")

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