Robert Becher, Bayport-Blue Point resident and former LILCO leader, dies at 89

When Robert Becher used to drive around Long Island with his sons, he appeared to be intimately familiar with a seemingly endless number of commercial buildings, schools and residential complexes — and would offer up long, detailed stories about them.

That was because Becher for years headed the gas and electric division at the Long Island Lighting Co. (LILCO) during a period when the Island experienced explosive growth from the 1960s through the 1980s.

His sons would patiently listen to the stories as Becher shared his pride in helping Long Island transform itself.

"We couldn’t pass a mall or a building without him saying, ‘Hey, you know, I helped this guy get gas. I helped that guy get electric,’ " said one of his sons, Andrew Becher, of Bayport. "It was a trip down memory lane for him, but he really was a witness to Long Island really coming into its own residentially and commercially, both heavy industry and commercial business."

Becher, 89, died Thursday at NYU Langone Hospital-Suffolk in East Patchogue after a series of health problems, including heart issues.

Becher was a well-known resident in the Bayport-Blue Point area, serving on the local school board, the Town of Islip Board of Assessment Review and as commodore of the Sayville Yacht Club.

A big, jovial man with a booming voice, he always seemed to have a good story to recount and a kind word about people he knew, his son said. "He always tried to be the gentleman and see the positive in everybody."

At the Sayville Yacht Club, where he was the oldest living past commodore, he helped new commodores learn the intricacies of running one of the largest and most popular sailing clubs in the region, said Joseph Buonasera, himself a former commodore.

"He was always there when I needed some advice," Buonasera said. "Bob was always a very big personality and very warm."

Becher grew up in Valley Stream, attended local public schools and went to Hofstra University. Before he could finish, he joined the National Guard to fulfill his military obligation, his son said.

He learned to drive tanks at Fort Knox, Kentucky, earning the rank of tank commander and first sergeant. He later became operations chief and command sergeant major of Rainbow Division's 142nd Armor Battalion in Patchogue.

While serving part time in the National Guard, he joined LILCO in the late 1950s. He stayed 42 years.

Long Island was experiencing dramatic growth as a quintessential post-World War II American suburb, and Becher helped power it. He eventually led a division of more than two dozen employees who were tasked with providing electricity or gas to new buildings.

He was all over Long Island as communities sprang up and expanded. "He got to know a lot of people and builders and contractors throughout all the different industries and real estate," Andrew Becher said.

That background helped him when he served on the Bayport-Blue Point Board of Education in the 1970s and 1980s as the community weighed building a middle school to accommodate a booming student population. Some contractors were proposing excessive fees, but Becher helped put a stop to that, his son said.

Islip Town officials also tapped into his background by appointing him to the Board of Assessment Review, where he helped adjudicate disputes over tax assessments, said another son, Carl Becher, of Bayport.

In his free time, he served as volunteer president of Skills Unlimited, a nonprofit in Oakdale that provided training, support and employment for adults with disabilities and veterans at a time when many businesses were reluctant to hire them, his sons said.

"They helped match up people with disabilities at a time where people were shunning people with disabilities," Andrew Becher said. "He thought that was a population that was really not given a fair shake."

Robert Becher’s wife, Helene, died in May. They would have celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary next week.

In addition to Andrew and Carl, he is survived by another son, Eric, of Ocean Township, New Jersey; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be Thursday 6 to 9 p.m. at Raynor & D’Andrea Funeral Home in Bayport. A funeral Mass will be Friday 10 a.m. at Our Lady of the Snow Roman Catholic Church in Blue Point.