Jeffrey Leonard

Becht

Jeffrey L. Becht, (Jeff)

Jeffrey L. Becht of Dayton, Ohio, passed away on Friday, October 16, 2026, at the age of 76, he was surrounded by his loved ones. Jeff was the oldest of 5 children and was born on March 12, 1950, to the late, Richard J. and Ruth L. (Wagner) Becht. Jeff is survived by his wife of 52 years, Marilyn Ann, daughter Jessica Lynn, and 4 grandchildren, Aiden (18), Bryson (15), Jaxon (11), and Madison (9). Siblings, Thomas Becht (Mary) of Loveland, Ohio, Bobby Becht of Columbia, South Carolina, And Alyson Short (Scott) of Springboro, Ohio. Brother-in-law, Alex Gyori (Dawne) from Vermont, Cousin Jane Hergo, Dayton, Ohio. Jeff was preceded in death by his sister, Bonnie Horn. He has many cousins from Buffalo, N.Y., friends Peter (Bubba) (Marie) D’istillo from Conn., Jerry Baracz (Linda) from Cleveland, Ohio and has many friends from the class of 1968 from Alter High School, Kettering, Ohio, including Marty Roderer (Anita) and David Bush.

Jeff went to “St. Albert the Great” grade school and “Alter High School”. The friends that he made when he went to St. Albert and Alter High School went on to go to the University of Dayton together and were still friends until he passed away. They would talk about the escapades when they were in school endlessly with each other. They enjoyed each other’s company very much. This was a very special bunch of friends and Jeff will be missed by them. There have been some friends that have passed away before Jeff and are probably having a good time in heaven together, talking over good times.

Jeff started his working career at “Gingess Formal Wear” until he graduated from the “University of Dayton” with a BS in Business, in 1972. After college he worked as a salesperson at Sears Dayton Mall. During the 11 years that he worked at Sears, he went from men’s suits, the carpet department and ended up as Manager of 3 departments at the Salem Mall. He enjoyed his tenure at Sears where he also met his wife, Marilyn. When he left Sears, he was hired by the “Lamar Outdoor Advertising” Co. based out of Baton Rouge, La., where he was eventually promoted to Vice President / General Manager of the Dayton / Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky plants before he decided to retire in 1999. While he was at Lamar, Jeff was able to join the Rotary Club and the Dayton Advertising Club. He served on the board, eventually becoming President of the Dayton Ad Club. He met a lot of people during his 13 years at Lamar and was very grateful that he was given the opportunity to do so.

In the beginning of the year 2000, he decided to purchase a sign company and change the name to “Sign Dynamics – from corporate to crazy”. He loved the sign business, working with different customers and enjoying the different types of signs that his company could put up. One of his favorites was the letters on the bridge that overlooked St. Rt. 675 that said, “WRIGHT STATE WAY”. Jeff was very proud of his company and loved that “Sign Dynamics” could do unusual things. Because of that, “Sign Dynamics” was voted the #1 Sign Company in the State of Ohio for several years in a row.

Jeff was a very good Manager and he treated all of his employees like family. Because Jeff was such a kind and thoughtful man, his employees knew that they could come to him and talk things over, he would listen and help them solve their problems. One of the ways he liked to show his employees that he cared and appreciated them was 1 day a month (when he would receive his Social Security check), he would go out and get everyone pizza for lunch. He didn’t want them to think that he took them for granted, that was the kind of person he was.

Jeff loved sitting out during the summertime in the evening with his neighbor Gene Klimo, and give all of the dogs that would be out walking “treats”. It got to the point, that even when he was working out in the yard, the dogs would recognize him and would bark at him because they wanted their “doggie treats”. Jeff would have little ones for the small dogs and larger ones for the bigger dogs. Jeff was even written up in the “Washington Township” Supplement because the neighbors appreciated him giving their dogs “treats”. When Jeff became ill and couldn’t sit outside any longer with Gene, the dogs would still recognize the driveway, and Gene would have to give the dogs their “treats”. It will be one of the things that Jeff loved doing and will be remembered for. He also bought goose food for the Canadian geese that he would see. He loved all animals. Before his marriage, Jeff’s family had a dog named Cleo. During his marriage he had 3 dogs, Ralph, Coconut, and Emma. He also had 4 cats at one time. One cat adopted him, another was Jessica’s and the other 2 came from Marilyn’s sister, Elaine, after Elaine passed away. Jeff also had a rescue kitty at Sign Dynamics that he took care of. He named the kitty Vinyl, because of all the vinyl jobs that Sign Dynamics installed. His wife, Marilyn, would tease him and say that she was going to buy him a pig because he loved pigs so much!

Jeff loved his 4 grandchildren very much. They had a special name for him and that was “Popo”, he loved that name. When his oldest grandson (Aiden) was just starting to talk and he couldn’t pronounce Grandpa, it came out “Popo”, and it stuck. All of the kids called him that whether they could say Grandpa or not. Jeff loved taking them to places, like to a UD basketball game or when he had Dragons tickets, he would take them to a ball game. Even though they weren’t really interested in the game, he would take them around to see “Heater and Gem”, the Dragons mascots. They would talk him into getting them ice cream and all kinds of junk food. They will remember their “Popo” with fond memories.

Jeff lived his whole life in Dayton, except for the 2 years that his family lived in Connecticut, because his father was transferred there. Those 2 years in Connecticut made a very big impression on him, especially when it came to the “New York Yankees”. He was a diehard Yankee fan for his entire life. He loved watching the Yankees play on TV and even had the chance to see them play the “Cleveland Indians”. Whenever he was in New York City and the Yankees were playing at home, he wanted to go see them. It didn’t matter if they won or lost, he was a Yankee fan, through and through. He had a best friend (Bobby Pulaski), when he lived in Connecticut that played ball for the Yankee farm team. Jeff was proud that he knew Bobby and spoke of him often to Marilyn. There was also a Yankee catcher, Thurman Munson, that Jeff looked like. When Thurman Munson passed away suddenly, Marilyn’s Mother told Jeff that he should go and apply for his job since they looked so much alike. Jeff got a chuckle out of that comment. Baseball was Jeff’s favorite sport to watch.

One of Jeff’s favorite pastimes was playing the drums. He would love listening to music and have his headphones on playing the drums at the same time. He had it set up so that no matter where the music was coming from in the house, he could play on his drum set. On his last days, Jeff would be listening to the music on TV and tapping his feet to the beat.

Another of his favorite pastimes was working in the yard. He loved cutting the grass and making sure that there were no weeds in the yard. It was a form of relaxation for him. He could forget about work or any other problems he had and just concentrate on his yard. If he and Marilyn were going someplace, he would take a few minutes before they left to kill some weeds. He won awards for his yard and was very happy about that. If there are yards up in heaven, he will probably be taking care of them too!

Jeff’s family would like to thank all of his family and friends that came to see him while he was in the hospital and after he came home. It meant a lot to Jeff and his family just wanted everyone to know this.

Visitation will be on Friday, October 30, 2026 from 9:00am-10:30am at WESTBROCK & DANIEL FUNERAL HOME - KETTERING, 5980 Bigger Rd., Kettering, Ohio. Mass of Christian Burial will start at 11:30 am at Incarnation Parrish, 55 Williamsburg Lane, Centerville, Ohio with his cousin, Deacon Gregory Gaulin, assisting at the Mass. Graveside burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery. All are welcome to celebrate Jeff’s life at “Bullwinkle’s Restaurant” in Downtown Miamisburg.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made in Jeff’s name to the Miami Valley Hospital Foundation, C/O the ALS Clinic by mail, to 31 Wyoming St., Dayton, Ohio 45409 or give online at www.mvhfoundation.org, with the donation being directed in Memory of Jeffrey L. Becht.