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Margaret Becker’s dementia fight may aid others
Margy Becker of Struthers served in the front lines of clinical trials in the battle against Alzheimer’s.
STRUTHERS —The first time Dan Becker noticed anything about his wife’s memory was in the mid-1990s when he and Margaret were at a convention, and she forgot her purse in a taxi cab.
The young girl he’d eloped with while they were students at Struthers High School — the smiling, energetic woman who was his companion for nearly 54 years, the mother of his five children, his partner in life and in business — had started down the difficult, inexorable path of Alzheimer’s disease.
They were married Aug. 5, 1955. She was 70 when she died of complications from Alzheimer’s on July 28.
The last years of her life were ‘very emotional and very hard” for everybody in the family, including Margy [his nickname for her], said Becker, owner of Becker Funeral Homes.
Their children, Kim Horyn of Nantucket, Mass.; Kandace Hagendorn and Kelly L. Becker, both of Poland; Kate Becker of Washington, D.C.; and Daniel H.D. Becker of Cleveland, were a tremendous help as time went on when Margy had to be at home. The daughters who lived out of the area came to stay periodically with their mother, Becker said.
Margy went to many doctors and finally her husband took her to a neurologist in Naples, Fla.
“When we walked out of the office, he slipped an Alzheimer’s pamphlet in my jacket pocket. Alzheimer’s had been in the back of my mind, and while the doctor didn’t make a diagnosis at that time, it was obvious that was what he believed, too,” Becker said.
Margy, who was known for her smile and outgoing personality, was often frustrated and confused and went through periods of anger as the disease progressed, Becker said.
He said attending a caregivers seminar was a great help to him, and he became very educated about the disease, which also helped him to understand and be patient with what was happening to his wife.
“You have to learn to roll with everything,” he said.
The Beckers learned of clinical trials on Alzheimers being conducted at University Hospitals’ Memory and Cognition Center in Cleveland, and she participated in the studies for five years before her death.
“Margy was 100 percent willing to try anything. Any clinical trial that came along, she volunteered for,” said Becker, who talked about their Alzheimer experience to raise awareness during November, National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month.
The Beckers and their family and friends have supported research through the Margy and Dan Becker Memorial Research Fund at the Memory and Cognition Center, where she was a patient of Dr. Alan Lerner, professor of neurology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
For their 50th wedding anniversary, the Beckers’ children asked family and friends to donate to the research fund in lieu of gifts, raising $7,000 at that time. At the time of her death, another $16,000 was given to the fund in her memory.
“This study wouldn’t have been possible without people volunteering to participate. Mrs. and Mr. Becker’s commitment was substantial. We’re extremely grateful to them for participating and helping to advance the research on Alzheimer’s disease. This is one more piece of the puzzle,” said Dr. Lerner.
Before Margy’s illness, the Beckers enjoyed traveling in the United States and around the world. In 1998, she became a breast cancer survivor.
After they were married, Becker served in the Army from 1956 to 1961 and Margy gave birth to three of their five children in Army hospitals. Upon return to civilian life, she began working with the Becker family at the former D.A. Davidson Funeral Home, which became Davidson-Becker and then Becker Funeral homes.
Becker earned his general equivalency diploma while in the Army. After he was discharged, he attended Youngstown State University for two years and then graduated from Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science to became the third generation of Beckers in the business.
In 1967, Margy, the daughter of Frederick and Margaret Hynes Trucksis, enrolled at Youngstown South High Night School, where she was the honor graduate and selected to speak at the commencement program.
She was active in school, church and community affairs, and in 1966, became a partner with her husband in founding and operating Becker Ambulance Service, which became Gold Cross Ambulance and Medical Service, which they later sold.
In 1973, Margy, along with her friend Margaret Gough Jacubec Pavlov, purchased Mitchell’s Paint Store in Struthers, renamed it Phelan’s Paint and Paper. They operated the business for 14 years.
Contributions can be sent to the Margy and Dan Becker Alzheimer’s Research Fund at University Hospitals Memory and Aging Center , 3619 Park East Drive, Beachwood, Ohio 44122.
The formal name of the study in which she participated is the “Study of High Dose Supplements to Reduce Homocysteine and Slow the Rate of Cognitive Decline in Alzheimer’s disease.” Sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study, a consortium funded by the National Institute of Health and based at the University of California San Diego, the study included some 40 sites and 400 patients who suffered from dementia.
To learn if a family member might be a candidate for a clinical trial for Alzheimer’s disease research, call Dr. Lerner at (216) 464-6412 and ask to speak to one of the drug-study coordinators.
There is no cure for Alzheimers. Some of the drugs mitigate symptoms, but at this time there is nothing to stop the progress of the disease, Becker said.
“That is why research is so critical,” he said.
“The clinical trials are one day going to find something, and just having a part in it makes you feel like you have done something,” Becker said.
“Margy never said, ‘Why me?’ She said, ‘Let’s keep going and see if anything can get done,’ ” he said.
alcorn@vindy.com