Ralph E. Becker; Ex-Ambassador, Kennedy Center Trustee

Ralph E. Becker, 87, a former ambassador and a founding trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. A Washington lawyer, Becker helped create the Kennedy Center and served as its general counsel as well as a trustee. He was appointed ambassador to Honduras in 1976. Becker was involved in Republican politics from an early age. After serving in the Judge Advocate Corps during World War II, he spent five years as chairman of the Young Republican National Federation, organizing party groups throughout the country. He collected political memorabilia for 40 years and donated the Ralph E. Becker Collection of Political Americana to the Smithsonian Institution. On Wednesday in Washington of congestive heart failure.