Born December 20, 1923 in Almont,North Dakota, Wayne was a quiet, highly intelligent child who did very well in school, played the trumpet, and worked hard on the farm. In order to get to the farm he needed to bike 3 miles, often early in the morning, to milk the cows and shock hay. One of his greatest passions, even as a child, was to take things apart and fix them. This especially pertained to watches, which he fixed until his disabling slip on the ice.

      At age 17, right after his sister Eileen's wedding, he hitch hiked all the way from the tiny rural North Dakota town to the big city of Minneapolis. WWII was raging in Europe, and the draft was imminent, but due to the damage Rheumatic fever had done to Wayne's heart, he was not eligible to enter the military. He chose to use his talents to help others keep their watches working.

Wayne began by getting watches from pawn shops to fix and return. He would take the watches back to his small room that he rented in a house on Park Avenue, where he stayed until he got

married, since the woman who rented the room to him thought he was a fine fellow.

He would work on the watches late into the night (he was always a night owl), and return them fixed to the shop. He also shared a little space with an optical store for awhile. When he had saved enough money, Wayne rented 1511 E. Lake St. and set up his own jewelry store for sales and repair. He worked alone until, in 1945, he hired his first employee, Ebba. She was the daughter of a wholesale jeweler, which I am sure worked out very well for Wayne's business.

     Wayne began with only 2 cabinets, one on the wall, and one that was a counter which he hired an old Swedish cabinetmaker to create. As Becklund Jewelers prospered he gradually had the cabinet maker create more cabinets. These were a part of the Lake Street store until the doors were closed for the last time in 1995.

     While all this was going on Wayne started to frequent a small café down the street called The Penguin. There he had his eye on a waitress named Frances. Being the wise woman that she was, she knew one of the best ways to a man's heart was through his stomach, and she saved jam under the counter especially for him. These were war times, and rationing made sweets hard to come by. When the war ended an old flame from high school came to visit Frances. Within a week, Wayne had asked Frances to marry him and came into the Penguin rattling an envelope under the counter. Wayne would not open the envelope and made her wait to see the ring. This was on Valentines Day in 1946. They were married in June and had their 63rd wedding anniversary this past June.

After the honeymoon on the North Shore, they moved into the back of the store. Wayne had created an apartment for them to live in. Now Wayne had a wife and got another incredible worker for the store in the deal too. They lived in the back of the store until October, 1950 when their first son, Gregory, needed space to run about in. At that time they moved into their home at 4825 Portland Ave S., had their 2nd son, Jeffrey, and lived there until 1998, at which time they made their house on Lake Carlos in Alexandria, their fulltime home.

      Becklund Jewelers at one time had 3 stores, one in Crystal, one in Minnetonka, and the original store in Minneapolis. There was also a store in Hyland Park for awhile. Becklund Jewelers was one of the 3 exclusive Keepsake Diamond Dealers in the Twin Cities. This prestigious honor brought in clientele who wanted quality diamonds, and further established Becklund Jewelers as a top notch jeweler in the Twin Cities. Wayne even did live TV ads on channel 5 and 11 back in the early 50's

      Some compared Wayne to the Eccentric Mad Scientist. He spent many hours mixing chemicals trying to create formulas that would make the world a better place. Although he was not able to go to college, those of us who knew him, were well aware he had the mind of a genius. You could call it stubbornness, strong-willed, perseverance, or just plain grit, but Wayne was a determined man who would stay committed to what he wanted and believed in. Sometimes this quality could be maddening, but much of the time it was what drove Wayne to do the work he was called to do - love & serve others using the many gifts and talents God gave him.

      Wayne loved to travel with his lovely wife. Almost every year they went to the National Jewelers Convention, which was often held in exotic places. Their favorite place was Barbados. The beauty and romance it offered captured their hearts. Those trips greatly benefited the business. Wayne would spend long hours catching up on all the repair work he had allowed to fill his in box. Nothing like a deadline to put a fire under Wayne

      One thing Wayne will be remembered for, is his incredible kindness. He was always helping people. I believe he expressed this kindness through the kindness he had received from God as said in Jeremiah 31 The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." In Galatians 5 it says 22, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Wayne truly exhibited the fruit of kindness, and

gentleness. This was seen in how people would come into the store to tell Wayne about their troubles. He would take the time to listen and share words of encouragement and comfort. One young man who was an alcoholic, would call Wayne from the bar to pick him up, as he was trying to become sober. Wayne was very kind to his employees too. Most of them worked for Becklund Jewelers for over 20 years and were like part of the family. Right up until the last day of his life Wayne's kindness, and sweet, gentle spirit blessed the staff and occupants of Knute Nelson Nursing Home.

     In his last years, after he moved up to Alexandria, Wayne was able to do some of the things he hadn't had much time for when working in Minneapolis. He loved watching the birds, and kept 5 feeders full of seeds. He also made sure the rabbits had pellets for food. We always knew that sunflower seeds and suet were useful gifts to give Wayne. He and Fluffy, the cat, grew very close, Wayne plied her with treats, and she usually slept at his feet. Wayne was also able to spend more time using his immense fix it skills at their place on Lake Carlos. He would attempt, and usually succeed in fixing anything that needed fixing whether it involved carpentry, electrical, plumbing, or just plain ingenuity.

     Wayne G. Becklund was and is a good name that was lived out with love and integrity, and now he is in an even better place than he was on the day of his birth.