John Roger Becht, age 89, passed away August 30th, 2025. A burial service will be held at 2:30 p.m. at Black Hills National Cemetery in Sturgis, SD on Friday, September 19th, 2025.

John was born on September 18th, 1935, to Charles and Florence Becht in Butler, SD. He was the 6th of eventually 7 siblings and joined James, Marilyn, Betty, David, Mildred and Lois was born after him. When his dad died when he was just thirteen years old, John grew even closer with his siblings and spent significant time with his oldest brother, Fr. Jim Becht through adulthood.

His family moved several times before settling in Sturgis, SD. He graduated from Saint Martin's Academy in 1953. John proudly served in the Navy and even in recent years was still revealing the many countries he had been stationed into his family. His commanding officers in the Navy were so impressed by his intellect that they encouraged him to have his IQ tested which led him to attend St. Thomas University in St. Paul, MN.

John was introduced to Jeanne Graham through mutual friends, Kay and Daryl Bach, whom they remained close to for the rest of their lives. John and Jeanne married on September 8, 1962, and started their family in St. Paul, MN. They eventually relocated to Hayward, WI where they owned a bait and general store. After that they moved to Spearfish, SD where John completed his Bachelor's Degree in his 40's at Black Hills State University and became a math and science teacher at Spearfish High School and spent some time teaching in Texas at various points in his career. His granddaughters would call him with math questions when they were in high school and he often had the same textbooks they were using and would teach them over the phone.

John had an intelligence that can never be emulated. He could figure out how to do anything and delighted in being able to fix anything by himself. He felt the most content when he was outside, working in his yard and gardens, tending to dahlias and roses, fishing, and fixing something that only he would be able to figure out- all while wearing overalls most of the time. He took great pride in his homemade pies even when he accidentally put mint extract in instead of vanilla. There truly wasn't anything he couldn't do.

He spent the last several years of his life continuing to be outside and find projects for himself, like completely redoing his deck at 88 years old, while also selflessly caring for his wife. He found new recipes to try for their meals together and learned how to make her coffee just the way she wanted it every morning.

There is so much more that could be said about John's incredible life, and his family would delight in sharing those stories.

Grateful to have shared John's life with him is his wife of 63 years, Jeanne, and their daughters, Jennifer, Jackie (John Gunderson) and Jodie (Steve Cook); his grandchildren, Sanna (Adam Strenge), Sam Cook, Camille Cook and his great grandchildren, Bridger, Wilder, Kindred and Shepherd Strenge. He is greatly missed by his remaining sister Marilyn Schoenrock.

John is preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Florence Becht, his siblings Fr. James Becht, Betty Selenski, David Becht, Mildred Becht and Lois Harkenrider, his in-laws and brothers-in-law, and his beloved granddaughter, Brytten.

Arrangements are under the care of Fidler-Isburg Funeral Chapels and Isburg Crematory of Spearfish. Online condolences may be written at www.fidler-isburgfuneralchapels.com