MUSCATINE, Iowa - Deacon Jayson Becker will be ordained into the priesthood for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo. on May 19. He is the son of former area resident and Amboy High School agriculture teacher Jim Becker.

Jim grew up in the Maytown area, attended grade school in Sublette and graduated from Amboy High School in 1955. He returned to AHS as the ag teacher from 1964-67 before moving to Mattoon and then to Muscatine, Iowa, where he and his wife, Rita, raised their family.

Jim said he and Rita, along with their entire family, are most pleased that their son decided to become a priest. On the day of his ordination, Jayson will be assigned to a parish in the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese.

Growing up, Jayson Becker had many role models who helped shape his decision to pursue a religious vocation. According to an article in the Catholic Key diocesan newspaper, this includes his father, who is a permanent deacon, and his mother, as well as an aunt who was a sister, and another aunt, Sharon Becker Preston, who helped get Jayson to a seminary for older men pursuing the priesthood, and his great-uncle the late Father Anthony Becker of the Diocese of Rockford. Also celebrating his ordination will be his uncles, Ken and Don Becker, who are members of Holy Family Parish in Rockford, and Walter Becker of Dixon and his aunt, Patricia Becker Schmidt of St. Anne Parish in Dixon.

Religious vocation

Attending the ordination of Jayson Becker as a transitional deacon in Kansas City, Mo. last December were, left to right, his parents Permanent Deacon Jim Becker and Rita Becker of Muscatine, Iowa; Jayson Becker; and Bishop James Johnston. Deacon Jayson will be ordained into the priesthood for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph on May 19. (Photo contributed)