Frances Howard Becker

Brown County Sheriff's Office — Brownwood, TX

Accident

End of Watch August 19, 1942

Age 34

The Vigil Panel 79 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 3

Incident

Deputy Sheriff Howard Becker succumbed to gunshot wounds from an accidental discharge of a firearm.

Deputy Sheriff Becker, another deputy, and a Santa Fe Railroad Special Agent were returning to Brownwood from Austin, where they had taken a patient to a state hospital. A .44 caliber revolver accidentally discharged while the officers were getting in their car in Llano. Deputy Becker was wounded and taken to the hospital in Brownwood, where he died at 3:10 a.m. the next day from a gunshot wound through the abdomen penetrating the intestines.

He was survived by his wife, a stepdaughter, and a sister.

Becker was buried in the Becker Family Cemetery in Kaufman, Texas.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife, a stepdaughter, and a sister.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-TX-A68F1306
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: April 2, 2026
Last updated: July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Deputy Sheriff Becker served with the Brown County Sheriff's Office.
Thank you for your service to the Brownwood community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Becker.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Brown County Sheriff's Office

Location Brownwood, TX

Platform Identity bcso.brown.tx.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch August 19, 1942

Age 34

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Cause Detail Gunfire (Inadvertent)

Deputy Sheriff Frances Howard Becker is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In TX, 653 of 2,421 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 27% of this state's fallen. That is 4 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

At Brown County Sheriff's Office, 1 of 4 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 25% of this agency's fallen.

Brown County Sheriff's Office

of 4 officers

25% Accident

TX — Statewide

653

of 2,421 officers

27% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident