At 100 years old, Arthur Becker is used to change. But he’s also a fountain of information about how things used to be.
The former president of three storied San Franciso Jewish institutions — Congregation Beth Israel Judea, Hebrew Free Loan and Sinai Memorial Chapel — has lived in the city since he was 9 months old. He’s befriended multiple mayors. At Sinai, he has served as a board member for 76 years.
All things considered, he’s something of a historian by default. He grew up in the city’s Fillmore District.“That was the Jewish neighborhood,” he remembers during a chat at the Concord home of his daughter, Susan. “There were lots of Jewish-owned stores. That was the community.”
The importance of community has been central in Becker’s life. In honor of his 100th birthday on Jan. 4, he was feted with two celebrations: one at Sinai Memorial Chapel and one at Beth Israel Judea. At Sinai, the refurbished boardroom was dedicated to him. A bronze plaque bearing his name was installed outside the door, and a framed photo hangs inside the Arthur S. Becker boardroom.
“He’s a modern tzaddik [wise person],” says Sam Salkin, executive director of Sinai Memorial Chapel. “He’s a successful businessman, and very American, but he’s deeply grounded in the values of Jewish community. Because of his values, his age, his acuity, he’s a moral compass. We’re blessed to have him.”
Becker is “an active contributor” to Sinai’s affairs, says Salkin. “We’ve been revising our bylaws, and Arthur has extremely vociferous, heartfelt points of view on particular issues.”
Becker says his community involvement is responsible for his health and energy, and vice versa. He’s still physically active and mentally sharp.
“I’ve been very fortunate,” he says. “But there’s no secret. I stay active. I believe in hard work but also play.”
He still lives in the home he purchased in 1947 in San Francisco’s Richmond District; once a week he calls a taxi and takes himself out to dinner. (He’s lived alone since his wife, Virginia, died in 1986.) Every Saturday morning, he attends services at Beth Israel Judea. One night per week, his son, Stephen Becker, or son-in-law, John Klein, picks him up for a trip to the grocery store or to the mall.
That independence helped drive his career success as a young man. “My mother came over from a shtetl in Russia in 1900, and we had nothing,” he says. “She taught us that hard work, taking care of oneself, was key.”
As a teen, he worked in a grocery store; after graduating from Lowell High School, he opened one with his brother. At age 30, he was drafted into the Army and served from 1942 to 1945, supervising a warehouse near the Presidio. After the war, he worked for Littlemen Stores, a small grocery chain, eventually becoming president and serving on the California Grocers Association board.
When the chain was sold, then-Mayor George Christopher (who knew Becker from the mayor’s time in the dairy business) gave him a position in the city’s Parking Authority. When that department’s director retired less than a year later, Becker — who had only a high school diploma — persuaded the new mayor, John Shelley, to let him try the job for six months with no pay, to prove that he could do it. He held that position until retiring in1977.
Not working any longer, however, meant that Becker had more time for volunteer positions and for Masonic Lodge meetings (another organization he once headed) in addition to his Jewish community involvement. And of course, for spending with his family.
In addition to his two children, Becker has four grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and five step-great-grandchildren.
“People still look to him for advice,” says son-in-law Klein. “He’s about perseverance, justice, doing the right thing.”
But Becker, for his part, is modest about his role in the community. “There’s just nothing I enjoy more than going to Shabbat [services] on Saturday mornings, being involved with my temple, my family,” he says. “It’s an effort of love.”