One of Australia’s best known brokers and broker educators, Roger Becker, died at his outer Melbourne home late last week after a short illness. Mr Becker, 65, retired from the industry only a few months ago. He is survived by his wife Liz, four children and five grandchildren.

English-born Roger Becker started his career as a junior broker at Lloyd’s in London and worked in the industry for more than 40 years. He arrived in Australia in 1963 on secondment to Lloyd’s, and never left. He joined NIBA in 1989 as Manager Technical Services and maintained a strong influence on the association’s approach to technical matters until a few months ago.

He also played an integral part in the drive to provide brokers with greater education opportunities, and was a keen supporter of the QPIB concept. Mr Becker was well-liked for his intellect and his keen sense of humour, and his sudden death has stunned his many friends and colleagues in the industry. When he retired in July, he said he planned to work part-time in the assessment program for brokers transferring to the FSR licensing system.

His funeral will be held at Melbourne’s Springvale Necropolis at 2pm on Thursday.