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OPENING REMARKS

By RICK WAMRE

24-7 information means constant conversation

But is anybody listening?

To me, August once was one of the greatest months of the year. It’s a hot month here in Texas. Parents and kids are restless from the summer break. And if there’s ever a time when our roads are slightly less congested, it’s this month — vacations and lack of energy seem to keep more people off the highways.

So it would seem like a good time to relax, wouldn’t it? A good time to recharge the batteries, to consider the future.

Yet one of the oddities of life today is that rest and recharging aren’t possible anymore.

Sure, we can take vacations and set aside “me” time and ensure that we’re getting our fair share of sleep.

But right there next to us every step of the way is the rest of the world, waiting to beep and chime its way into our heads.

I’ve read about people stepping back from social media, shutting off their phones and communicating the oldschool way with their voices. But I’ve never met any of them. No matter where I go these days, people remain plugged in, so much so that it’s becoming fairly standard for new restaurants to add electrical outlets and USB charger plugs to every table.

Of course, what they’re really doing is waving the white flag as a digital surrender to lunch and dinner conversation, what with the TV right above each table, too.

It’s a diversion from regular life, but it’s a tiring way to live. It seems the more we think we know, the more opinionated we become. And the more opinions we have, the more some of us are emboldened to let everyone else know what we’re thinking. And the more we do that, the more obvious it becomes that a lot of us are pretty clueless about the relative importance of listening to others as opposed to shouting them down.

It has become virtually impossible to have a discussion with anyone these days for the purposes of exploring new facts and pondering new ideas. There is so much knowledge at our fingertips every moment of the day, much of it skewed in the general direction we already prefer, that there’s little new anyone else can bring to bear on a situation.

So some of us spend a lot of time talking loudly past each other, and the rest of us follow the conversation with a mixture of fright and awe.

August used to be a good month to flush the mind, a good time to disengage and mentally start over.

available

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our neighborhoods, one copy per reader. Advocate was founded in 1991 by Jeff Siegel, Tom Zielinski and Rick Wamre.

There’s nothing wrong with being constantly aware of every commentator’s thoughts about what’s happening in Washington, and the latest on LeBron James, and those multi-step paths to accomplish this and that.

Not so much anymore. The lack of anything concrete to think about just means more screen time these days to reinforce what we already think we know.

Rick Wamre is president of Advocate Media. Let him know how we are doing by emailing rwamre@advocatemag.com.

It seems the more we think we know, the more opinionated we become.

AUG. 24

FELINE FILM FESTIVAL

L A UNCH Out & About

Cat videos from around the world will be showcased on the big screen by the Video Association of Dallas and Instagram Cat Mom. Proceeds will benefit local homeless pets.

The Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson, 214.948.1546, thetexastheatre.com, $15

AUG. 2

PUPPET SHOW

Professional puppeteer Sandy Shrout performs “Pecos Bill: A Tall Texas Tale” at 11 a.m.

North Oak Cliff Library, 302 W. Tenth, 214.670.7555, dallaslibrary.org, free

AUG. 6

WALK AND WINE

The Bishop Arts District will host shopping, dining and wine. Participants purchase a wine glass and walk through neighborhood shops.

Bishop Arts District, 400 N. Bishop Ave., bishopartsdistrict.com, $15

AUG. 9

DOWN UNDER CRITTERS

The “creature teacher” takes readers on a virtual trip to Australia during this 2 p.m. story time.

Hampton-Illinois Library, 2951 S. Hampton, 214.670.7646, dallaslibrary.org, free

AUG. 11

NIGHT HIKE

The Dallas Zoo helps guests experience the wildlife after-dark on the Safari Night Hike. There will be a tour, activities and animals up close.

Dallas Zoo, 650 S. R.L. Thornton Freeway, 469.554.7500, dallaszoo.com, $20

AUG. 11

SOUTH SAN GABRIEL

These Texas musicians consist of former members of Denton’s Centro-matic, but play quieter, more subdued introspective tunes. The Kessler, 1230 W. Davis, 214.272.8346, thekessler.org, $18-$36

AUG. 26

VAUDEVILLE NIGHT

The show consists of a variety of unrelated acts, including comedy, tap, singing, percussion and jazz.

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Oak Cliff, 3839 W. Kiest, 214.337.2429, oakcliffuu.org, $10

STANDING UP FOR URBAN FORM

How can neighbors get what they want from a CVS developer?

By RACHEL STONE

When CVS moved to tear down an old stone warehouse on Beckley Avenue last year, Alicia Quintans bird-dogged the developer.

The Oak Cliff-based architect and preservationist went to every obscure public meeting on proposed zoning changes related to the project to express her opposition. She was the only one.

CVS eventually won out, as Quintans assumed they would, but she did take a consolation prize. The developer allowed her to salvage whatever she wanted from the building, including stone from the façade. The stone is an exact match for bridges and walls in her neighborhood, Beckley Club Estates. The

The 1940 building that most recently housed El Corazon de Tejas restaurant was torn down in May to make way for a CVS store. (Photo by Danny Fulgencio)

neighborhood association squirreled away all of the matching stone in the event of future repairs or restoration.

Now CVS plans to build a suburban-style store at the heart of our neighborhood, right on the streetcar line on West Davis at Zang.

The developer, Orange LLC, razed the 1940 building that most recently housed El Corazon de Tejas restaurant as well as an adjacent retail strip. So far, plans call for building a typical CVS store set behind a parking lot, boxy with a synthetic stucco façade and a pharmacy drive-through.

That doesn’t appeal to those who envision the corner of West Davis and Zang as a walkable, urban extension of the Bishop Arts District.

CVS, like many major retailers, builds most of its stores to certain specifications, whenever allowed, and deviating from that likely increases their costs.

But if neighbors want more expensive materials, such as brick, or a storefront that meets the sidewalk, what power does the neighborhood have to negotiate with the CVS developer?

Neighbors in Oak Lawn successfully negotiated with CVS developer Orange LLC in 2015.

The retailer donated a small park, built a security wall and used brick instead of stucco for its store on Maple Avenue.

That’s because the developer needed neighbors’ approval for a zoning change. The property had been zoned for apartments, and building the store required a change to allow retail. There was

strong opposition from about 10 neighbors with homes adjacent.

“When pushed to it, [CVS] did a really good job,” says Rob Elmore, who was involved in the effort through the Oak Lawn Committee.

On that corner of West Davis at Zang, however, no zoning change would be required. The lot is just outside of the Bishop/Davis zoning that prohibits drive-through windows. And it’s outside of the Oak Cliff Gateway zoning,

Above: The CVS store on Beckley at Illinois. Opposite: An example of an urban-style CVS store in Downtown Dallas. (Photos by Danny Fulgencio)

which requires urban form. It also is not included in the area that requires a delay before certain old buildings can be demolished.

The developer is requesting a replat — to make two lots into one — but approval for that lies with the City Plan Commission and not City Council.

In the case of the Maple Avenue store, as well as the Beckley consolation prize, it took neighbors standing up for the cause.

“They are capable of changing their form,” Elmore says. “It’s just a matter of, do they want to be good neighbors?”

Jason Price of Orange LLC, the CVS developer, told City Councilman Scott Griggs earlier this year that he would agree to meet with a committee of Oak Cliff residents about the development.

We asked Price to comment for this story, and he referred us to CVS corporate, which did not respond.

GOING FORWARD

CVS could build its prototype store on Zang, despite protest from neighbors.

How does Oak Cliff resist undesirable development in the future?

Among other moves, City Landmark Commissioner Michael Amonett suggests expanding the “demolition delay overlay,” which requires a waiting period and public meetings before certain old buildings can be torn down.

City Councilman Scott Griggs pushed for parts of Oak Cliff to be included in the overlay when City Council approved it for Downtown last year.

But it only covers a small portion of Oak Cliff.

Amonett would like for the overlay to cover parts of the Kidd Springs neigh-

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L A UNCH

borhood, plus all of West Davis from Jefferson to North Rosemont, part of the L.O. Daniel neighborhood and all of West Jefferson from near Marsalis to Hampton.

Since the overlay was created in Oak Cliff, it has resulted in one old Bishop Arts house being moved to West Dallas, and negotiations are underway for a Bishop Arts duplex that could be demolished.

“It’s a great tool because it gives everyone a chance to just talk about it,” Amonett says. “Sometimes if the owners just hear from neighbors, they can come to a solution that everyone can agree on.”

DELICIOUS

Brunch, lunch and dinner

Oddfellows is not just for Sundays

By RACHEL STONE

Photos by KATHY TRAN

DID YOU KNOW: Oddfellows recently expanded its outdoor dining area.

In a restaurant scene where brunch is king, Oddfellows made itself a magnet for mimosas and maple syrup.

When the New Orleans-inspired Bishop Arts restaurant opened in 2010, the brunch set lined up to get a taste.

It was such a hit that they started serving brunch all day with just a few lunch and dinner items. The beignets and pancakes will always be there for brunchers.

But Oddfellows is coming into a new era with chef Anastacia Quiñones running the kitchen.

Quiñones, known as AQ, joined the restaurant last year after her stint heading up Kitchen LTO, and she’s moving Oddfellows away from its brunch-centric menu.

She’s sourcing produce from We Over Me Farm at Paul Quinn College and other local and regional farms.

“It’s always fun to see them walk in the door, and you don’t know what you’re going to get,” she says of the farm deliveries.

She’s added cool dishes to the summer menu, including avocado gazpacho with poached shrimp and watermelon salad

with goat cheese. There’s also a baked burrata, a brined bone-in pork chop and house-made pasta.

“It’s labor intensive,” Quiñones says of the pasta. “But it’s worth it because it’s delicious.”

ODDFELLOWS

Ambiance: New Orleans casual

Price range: $8-$20

Hours: 7 a.m.-10 p.m.

Monday-Saturday and 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday

Clockwise from left: Chicken and waffles, a chopped salad and crudite with hummus.

CURATION FIXATION

These Oak Cliff neighbors turn collecting into a fine art

Story by RACHEL STONE | Photos by DANNY FULGENCIO

MARIE KONDO’s 2014 book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” taught many Americans how to keep their homes neat like the Japanese, how to let go of things and declutter one’s life.

But accumulating stuff is part of life. And treasure hunting can be exhilarating.

It’s not easy to strike a balance between tidy and expressive. There is a fine line between hoarding and hobby, but these Oak Cliff residents only select the best, and they take curating their collections to the next level.

ANTIQUES IN THE FAMILY

What does one buy for the couple who has everything?

When Gretchen Bell and Benny Hinkle got married earlier this year, one friend gave them a human femur bone, which Inuits in the 1800s used to club hunting prey.

We’re sure a nice picture frame would’ve been fine, but it was the perfect gift for this couple, whose lives revolve around antiques.

Bell opened Dolly Python boutique in East Dallas 12 years ago. The shop is known for vintage clothes and cowboy boots as well as its antique-mall style booths from dealers with unusual taste. Her husband, who worked at the White Elephant for 18 years, opened his own shop, Benny Jack Antiques, in a space adjacent to Dolly Python last year.

They live in a two-story house near Kiest Park that is packed with treasures.

The Hinkle-Bells are not minimalists. Every available space on their walls, shelves and side tables are filled with things to draw you in. It’s an astounding amount of stuff, but it’s all put together just so, like a very homey museum.

The front room, with its crimson walls, is a gallery of striking 19th- and 20th-century paintings that Hinkle has collected over the years.

There’s also a zoo of antique taxidermy — a pheasant, a white crane and a baboon, among many others.

Bell started in the business at 19, hitting Dallas estate sales with the classified ads and a Mapsco. She worked at the bygone Ahab Bowen vintage clothing store in Turtle Creek for many years and also worked a second job as an assistant clothing stylist to fund the opening of Dolly Python at age 30.

She collects an overwhelming number

of fascinating things, including Fred Harvey railroad jewelry. Harvey was an entrepreneur who opened a string of cafes at railroad depots in the 1800s American West. Those cafes were among the first to sell Native American jewelry to tourists.

She collects “naugahyde monsters” for her 4-month-old son, Furious. They’re dolls that were made in the 1960s to promote the fake-leather naugahyde furniture, and they can sell on eBay for hundreds of dollars.

It took months earlier this year for Bell to pack up and move out of the East Dallas house where she’d lived for more than 10 years. She says it was a painful and deeply personal process of deciding what to keep and what to let go.

Now she has a woman cave in a basement room of the house Hinkle bought four years ago.

In her room, there are nude paintings from the 1940s, handcrafted cowboy boots, 1950s mug shots from the Tarrant County jail, a collection of murderers’ rap sheets from New Orleans, a three-dimensional handmade map of the Americas and pounds of thunderbird jewelry, just to scratch the surface.

“Our style is very different, but we compliment each other,” Bell says. “Our shops are the same way. They reflect our personalities.”

Hinkle and Bell knew each other for many years before they started hanging out a few years ago. On their first date, she gave him a double leopard claw fob for the pocket watch chain that he always wears.

“I could never date someone who was not in this business,” she says. “It’s hard for people to understand what we do.”

When we visited their home in July, Hinkle’s latest acquisition was a taxidermy flying fish.

“I’d never seen one before; that’s why I wanted it,” he says. “That’s always what I’m looking for. Something I’ve never seen.”

Opposite page: Gretchen Bell and Benny Hinkle at home with their son Furious. Clockwise from right: Shelves in the Bell-Hinkle home showcase possessions, including Bell’s “cyclops baby” in a jar, a carnival sideshow prop. Hinkle and Bell have collected enough antique taxidermy to stock a natural history museum. Hinkle has been collecting paintings for many years, and he has an eye for arranging them.

Shad Kvetko, right, is a second-generation antiques dealer who collects Mexican folk art, among many other things. His wife, Leigh, is a graphic designer who collects shoes from the 1940s.

S TRANGER THINGS

Shad Kvetko sold his prized possession, a genuine human shrunken head, earlier this year.

A longtime collector of strange things including antique funeral items and sideshow oddities, he’d searched for a real shrunken head for years — they can fetch up to $20,000. But he sold it to help fund a business venture.

Kvetko, his wife, Leigh, and their partners last month opened a mezcal bar in Exposition Park called Las Almas Rotas, “the broken souls.”

Mezcal is the latest obsession of Kvetko, a second-generation antiques dealer.

As a youngster, he collected “anything with skulls” because he thought it was punk rock. Later he got into Victorian-era funeral objects, including an embalming table and human-hair wreaths, and then carnivals and sideshows.

The Phoenix native at one time had a working sideshow with “things in jars” and strange taxidermy, such as a two-headed calf. He also owned a Mexican folk-art store in his hometown, called Saints and Sinners.

Mezcal, and the art and ephemera surrounding it, is a big part of his adoration for Mexican folk art.

“In Oaxaca, it’s all very connected,” he says. “In the mezcalerías, you see the work of local artists. That’s all part of it.”

Kvetko’s antiques collection now includes many hand-carved wooden mezcal bottles from the 1940s and ’50s.

“They’re extremely hard to find in Mexico,” he says.

Las Almas Rotas sprang out of a private club that Kvetko opened with buddies in Oak Cliff a couple of years ago — it was just a space for friends to hang out. They had a hard time dealing with liquor laws in Oak Cliff, so they opened the official bar on Parry Avenue, in the old Bar of Soap space.

Inside, you’ll find many varieties of mezcal, of course.

Plus there are a few weird things, including a 5-foot-tall St. Jude statue with glass eyes that seem to judge one’s every move. On the bar is a small, mummified monkey in a glass case.

That one Kvetko received as a gift from a santero in Oaxaca; there’s no way he could sell it.

GO, DJ. THAT’S MY DJ

Think of any fulllength album or single from 1990s rap music. No matter how obscure or rare, Will Rhoten, the Oak Cliff resident known as DJ Sober, certainly had it in his collection.

“There was a lot of stuff that I hadn’t played in years,” he says.

He has most of them as digital files anyway. And any time he plays all-vinyl sets, he spins disco, boogie and R&B, mostly.

So earlier this year, he held a pop-up sale in Deep Ellum and unloaded about 550 hip-hop records. There are another 1,000 or so that he plans to put in another sale.

The most rare, including Diamond D’s “Stunts Blunts and Hip Hop,” brought in around $200.

At one time, Rhoten’s record collection numbered around 5,000. Now it’s just about 2,000 deep.

“I don’t regret it at all,” Rhoten says of the sale at Off The Record.

Seeing crate-diggers find the treasures of their lifetimes was worth it, he says. He met a guy from Spain at the Belmont Hotel who came to the sale, paid $200 for the Digable Planets’ “Blowout Comb” and was thrilled with the acquisition.

Rhoten learned to blend house-music tracks in the early 1990s growing up in

Fort Worth and going to raves. He later started mixing hip-hop records, and rap music remains his claim to fame in Dallas, where he hosts the weekly Big Bang Thursdays at Beauty Bar on North Henderson Avenue.

He was the third member of Dallas rap group A.Dd+, and he’s been the opener for Erykah Badu’s birthday party, toured nationally with Black Milk and opened for the Flaming Lips and Cut Copy, to name a few. He regularly books gigs in other cities.

Elsewhere, he’s known for specializing in Texas music. During a recent appearance on DASH radio in New York, he played a 30-minute set entirely of Dallas hip-hop.

Asked about his favorite career accomplishments, he says: “To be deeply rooted in Dallas and the scene here and to have a great local following.”

Rhoten quit his job planning events for Red Bull in 2006 and has made a good living for himself as a DJ since then. He

bought a house in Elmwood about 10 years ago.

Freeing up space in the collection

brought new enthusiasm for record shopping, he says. In hindsight, he wishes he’d amassed more Bjork records, which now sell for hundreds of dollars. And being a collector, he doesn’t want the reissue.

He cherishes his Smiths albums, which are rare and have cool art. He’s got just about every album and 45 put out by Sade and Prince.

“You always are filling in the gaps,” he says. “I’m more selective now.”

Opposite page: Part of Will Rhoten’s vast record collection.

Rhoten, known as DJ Sober, recently began selling the bulk of his hip-hop albums. Above: An “E.T.” slipmat given to Rhoten by a friend. Below: Rhoten sits on his front porch with his dog, Herbie.

R INGS FOR REMEMBRANCE

For years Amy Strickland rarely wore jewelry. Considering her heavily ringed fingers and ever-present jangle of bracelets, that’s hard to believe now.

The Oak Cliff resident collects unique turquoise and silver jewelry, and she has loads of it.

Her interest in jewelry started, though, with antique mourning rings. The rings, produced between the 1920s-1950s, were mementos to honor loved ones who had died.

“I’m kind of obsessed with how people deal with death,” she says. “It’s not morbid. It’s a sweet thing that people did to remember someone.”

Most of the rings are made of early plastics, Bakelite or celluloid, and they hold portraits or sometimes, hair. Strickland also has about 18 mourning rings that are made of silver in the Art Deco style.

Not all of them commemorate the dead. Some are “sweetheart rings,” to remind the wearer of his or her beau. And some of them are “prison rings,” fashioned out of Bakelite toothbrushes behind bars.

“I have one that’s more crudely made, and it’s his mug shot with the lines behind his head,” she says.

Since she started collecting them seven or eight years ago, Strickland has amassed about 100 rings. She used to buy them at flea markets for no more than $60, typically. And some she bought on eBay for $20 or so.

Now they’re harder to find and can fetch $400 or more.

She’s so into the rings that she’s tried to make her own, using a silver ring kit and photos of her grandparents.

“If there was a way I could bring it back, I would,” she says.

It’s her love of old photographs and

the stories behind antiques that fueled the obsession.

“I hate that people would not pass that down,” she says. “That would be the thing I would most want in the world. I guess there was no family left who wanted them.”

She’s bought mourning rings where the photos have faded completely because she still feels for the objects and doesn’t want them to be unappreciated.

Now she only buys the very rare ones, like the one of a little boy with butterfly wings inside the ring and one with a red-white-and-blue heart.

Sometimes she gives them away to friends who really fall in love with one. And she usually raffles one off at her annual Christmas party.

“I like people to celebrate death, and I think we’ve lost that now,” she says. “We didn’t take everything for granted, and people did nice things for each other.”

Amy Strickland began collecting jewelry after becoming “obsessed” with mourning rings. Examples from Strickland’s collection include tributes to children who died as well as “sweetheart” rings and prison rings, which were crafted from Bakelite toothbrushes from behind bars.

WORTH SAVING?

The Landmark Commission is now looking at buildings in context, not just their design

By KERI MITCHELL

Photos by DANNY FULGENCIO

The erstwhile El Corazon de Tejas restaurant on Davis Street does not fit the traditional definition of a historic landmark structure.

Built in 1940 as Wyatt Food Store, it was a ubiquitous commercial structure, not a highly stylized expression of a particular style by a notable architect or emblematic of the period in which it was built. It was old, yes, but old and historic are not one and the same.

And yet, before a bulldozer razed the restaurant in May, 899 people had signed a Change.org petition to save it.

“When you’ve got a thousand people who care about a structure, you have to

ask, ‘OK, why is it that a thousand people are begging the [Dallas] Landmark Commission to save this building?’ ” says Katherine Seale, the commission’s chair. “Why is this important, and how does this capture a sense of place for a city and a community? That informs how you do preservation.”

These questions characterize the City of Dallas’ new and arguably improved approach to preserving its history, led by Seale, the former executive director of Preservation Dallas. The program has “matured,” Seale says, so that the city can examine not just buildings with architectural significance but also the rest of the cultural landscape.

At this point, Seale says, “we have a pretty good understanding of the historic resources we’ve got, up to World War II.” Moving forward, the city needs to look at “everything between the buildings.”

“Historic preservation gets its authority because it is a public good, so it has to be linked back to what is in the best interest of the public,” Seale says. “We need to take ourselves away from that hyper-focus on the exterior of a building.”

Along the same vein, the landmark commission is now looking at buildings that are important to a particular culture, people or neighborhood.

“It doesn’t have to be the highly stylized buildings; something can carry just as

Katherine Seale sits in the entryway of the Meadows Building, one of several historic structures her leadership on the Landmark Commission has helped preserve.

much meaning if it’s a brick box,” Seale says. This will lead to more focus on areas such as Jefferson Boulevard, she says, that have escaped prior preservation attention.

It may apply to El Corazon, too, even though the building is gone. The original Wyatt’s was the kind of structure that wouldn’t stand out in a slideshow of images as preservation-worthy, Seale says. But then the commission began looking at the context in which it was built.

The role of Davis Street in Oak Cliff’s history was as an automobile corridor — the arterial connection that linked Oak Cliff to downtown Dallas by the late 1930s. It was part of the Bankhead Highway, the first paved transcontinental highway in the United States.

All buildings on Davis are a reflection of that automobile corridor, Seale says, and the Wyatt’s store is “a great example of trying to attract thousands of passersby to stop in and patron the business,” Seale says.

She points out the signage that reached into the sky as a style of art-deco architecture fitting for a roadside store that was trying to grab drivers’ attention. The building’s tower above its entryway, which faced Davis Street, and the row of windows across the first story enticed customers as well, she says.

Seale says she and other commission-

ers’ initial concern was that the outcry to save El Corazon was no more than a backlash to CVS, which purchased and razed the property (more on that on p. 7). The role of the Landmark Commission is not to prevent unpopular development, she points out, but to preserve and maintain the city’s history.

And much of Oak Cliff’s historical sense of identity is dependent on its relationship with Downtown and with all of the surrounding neighborhoods, Seale says, all of which is captured in the Wyatt’s building.

“When you start removing buildings like El Corazon, you start to erase the very thing that makes Oak Cliff, Oak Cliff, especially when you replace it with something that could be anywhere,” she says. “CVS is emblematic of ‘Anywhere USA.’ So we’ve got something so characteristic of our identity and it’s being replaced with something that is foreign to Davis Street.”

The building lay just outside the recently established Oak Cliff demolition delay overlay, a large chunk of northern Oak Cliff protected by an ordinance that requires a 45-day waiting period for a developer to obtain a demolition permit. This is perhaps Seale’s greatest accomplishment since being appointed as Landmark Commission chair in 2012 by Mayor Mike Rawlings.

The initiative sprung out of a grim Sunday in 2014 for the preservation community, when a wrecking ball razed several historic Downtown buildings with no warning. When it comes to Dallas’ historic resources, the preservation community needs time to work with owners to see whether a deal can be brokered, Seale says.

Michael Amonett, Oak Cliff’s landmark commissioner, wants to see the demolition delay overlay expanded. A new map he has proposed includes the site of the former El Corazon (see page 10).

Expanding the map would require a lengthy process. In the meantime, Seale, Amonett and the rest of the Landmark Commission are exploring the possibility of writing landmark criteria for a building that no longer exists.

“Can you do historic preservation if you already have a demolition permit?” Seale asks. “Could new construction do the same thing that the pre-existing structure did? New construction in historic districts has to fit into this larger context — can you do that on a street, without a district, on an individual structure?”

The commission is in the process of exploring such questions. Depending on their answers, even though El Corazon is gone, its historic significance may be resurrected.

An Alamo Manhattan crane hovers above the Bishop Arts District.

2017

BEST F 2017

Over the past three months, Advocate readers voted to select the best of Oak Cliff. Be sure to visit all of these local spots, and share your pictures with us on social media — we’d love to see you around the neighborhood.

Best of Culture

BEST PLACE TO TAKE YOUR DOG WINNER – Kidd Springs Park

RUNNER-UP – Kiest Park

3RD PLACE – Twelve Hills Nature Center

BEST NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS TO PLUG INTO WINNER – GO OAK CLIFF

RUNNER-UP – Old Oak Cliff Conservation League

3RD PLACE – RECPTA

BEST PLACE TO TAKE NEW NEIGHBORS WINNER – Nova

RUNNER-UP – Hotel Belmont

3RD PLACE – El Ranchito

BEST PLACE FOR KIDS

WINNER – Dallas Zoo

RUNNER-UP – Kidd Springs Park and Rec Center

3RD PLACE – North Oak Cliff Library

BEST PLACE TO GO FOR A RUN WINNER – Kiest Park

RUNNER-UP – Coombs Creek Trail

3RD PLACE – The West Levee/Trinity Skyline Trail

BEST COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT

WINNER – Dash for the Beads

RUNNER-UP – Kessler Krawl

3RD PLACE – Kessler Pumpkin Patch

BEST PUBLIC EVENT

WINNER – Mardi Gras Parade

RUNNER-UP – Cinco de Mayo Parade

3RD PLACE – Bastille Day

BEST PLACE TO SEE A LIVE SHOW

WINNER – Kessler Theater

RUNNER-UP – Texas Theatre

3RD PLACE – Bishop Arts Theatre Center

BEST PLACE FOR A PICNIC

WINNER – Lake Cliff Park

RUNNER-UP – Kidd Springs Park

3RD PLACE – Twelve Hills Nature Center

BEST NEIGHBORHOOD INSTITUTION

WINNER – Bishop Arts District

RUNNER-UP – The Texas Theatre

3RD PLACE – Kessler Theater

Best of Services

BEST ANIMAL CARE

WINNER – Oak Clips

RUNNER-UP – Green Pet

3RD PLACE – Bones and Bacon Pet Resort

BEST PLACE TO WORK OUT

WINNER – Edge Group Fitness

RUNNER-UP – The Sweat Shop

3RD PLACE – OakFit

BEST HOME GOODS

WINNER – Home on Bishop

RUNNER-UP – Bishop Street Market

3RD PLACE – Set & Co

BEST PLACE TO PAMPER YOURSELF

WINNER – YaYa Foot Spa

RUNNER-UP – Urban Hippie Chiropractic

3RD PLACE – Pink Pedi

BEST GO-TO FOR LAST MINUTE GIFTS

WINNER – Joy Macaroons

RUNNER-UP – Fete-Ish

3RD PLACE – Neighborhood

BEST ONLY-IN-OAK-CLIFF SHOP

WINNER – Wild Detectives

RUNNER-UP – Oil & Cotton

3RD PLACE – Set & Co.

Best of Dining

BEST SWEETS

WINNER – Emporium Pies

RUNNER-UP – Dude, Sweet Chocolate

3RD PLACE – Vera’s

BEST PLACE TO TAKE OUT OF TOWNERS

WINNER – Lockhart Smokehouse

RUNNER-UP – Hattie’s

3RD PLACE – El Si Hay

BEST LOCAL MARKET/GROCERY

WINNER – Cox Farms

RUNNER-UP – Ann’s Health Food Center & Market

3RD PLACE – Bolsa Mercado

BEST CUP OF COFFEE

WINNER – Houndstooth Coffee

WINNER – Davis Street Espresso

WINNER – Oddfellows *Three way tie

BEST LUNCH SPOT

WINNER – Hunky’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers

RUNNER-UP – Cheesesteak House

3RD PLACE – Bolsa Mercado

BEST NEW OPENING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

WINNER – BBBop Seoul Food

RUNNER-UP – Cheese & Chutney

3RD PLACE – Little Havana Restaurant

BEST BREAKFAST / BRUNCH

WINNER – Norma’s Café

RUNNER-UP – Jed’s Grill

3RD PLACE – Jonathon’s

BEST PLACE TO GET TAMALES

WINNER – Dallas Tortilla and Tamale Factory

RUNNER-UP – Tia Dora’s

3RD PLACE – The Tamale Co

BEST HEALTH FOOD

WINNER – Ann’s Health Food Center & Market

RUNNER-UP – JuiceLand

3RD PLACE – Local Press + Brew

BEST TACOS

WINNER – El Si Hay

RUNNER-UP – Tacodeli

3RD PLACE – El Taxqueno

BEST CRAFT COCKTAIL MENU

WINNER – Bolsa

RUNNER-UP – Jettison

3RD PLACE – Stock & Barrel

BEST ASIAN FOOD

WINNER – Ten Ramen

RUNNER-UP – Pho 88

3RD PLACE – Chan Thai

BEST SEAFOOD

WINNER – La Calle Doce

RUNNER-UP – Pier 247

3RD PLACE – Zen Sushi

WORSHIP

By BRENT MCDOUGAL

Keepers of faith

Navigating and sharing the unsolvable enigma of the divine

An elementary school teacher watched as 6-year-olds drew pictures. At the back of the class sat a little girl who normally didn’t pay much attention. She loved to draw, however, and for 20 minutes she sat with her arms curled around the paper, totally absorbed in her creation. The teacher noticed her intensity and asked what she was drawing.

Without looking up she said, “I’m drawing a picture of God.”

Surprised, the teacher blurted, “But nobody knows what God looks like.”

The girl said, “They will in a minute.”

God is a mystery.

One of the dangers of preaching is that when I speak, I explain things in a way that suggests that God is always logical, always makes sense and can be easily explained. God can be reduced to five laws, described in four points, and followed through three steps.

God can’t be contained or domesticated. God is an ocean, not a swimming pool. To plumb the depths of God is to discover deeper waters still.

God created the world, but how did God create the world? The Bible says that in the beginning, the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. God spoke: “Let there be light!” And there was light. How does God create simply by a word?

The miracles of the Bible are mysterious. Water to wine and lepers cleansed with a word or a touch or a little spittle. The cross is a mystery. How did Jesus take the sins of the world upon himself? Salvation is a mystery. Sanctification is a mystery. Heaven is a mystery. Life and death? Mystery. The incarnation — God coming into the world as a baby in the manger? Mystery. The Spirit’s working in our lives is a mystery.

Perhaps this is why the Bible often

calls people of faith “stewards of the mystery.” Not perfect, not certain. Just stewards. Keepers and caretakers and messengers. The mystery dwells within us. God lives in broken, messy people like you and me.

Gardner Taylor pondered this question when he said, “God might have found so many other ways to spread the Gospel of the love of God. He might have written his love on the leaves of the trees and blowing winds would have sent out the

WORSHIP

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST

EAST DALLAS CHRISTIAN CHURCH / 629 N. Peak Street / 214.824.8185

Sunday School 9:30 am / Worship 8:30 am - Chapel

10:50 am - Sanctuary / Rev. Deborah Morgan-Stokes / edcc.org

EPISCOPAL

ST. AUGUSTINE’S /1302 W. Kiest Blvd / staugustinesoakcliff.org

A diverse, liturgical church with deep roots in Oak Cliff and in the ancient faith / Holy Eucharist with Hymns Sunday 10:15 am

METHODIST

GRACE UMC / Diverse, Inclusive, Missional Sunday School for all ages, 9:30 am / Worship, 10:50 am 4105 Junius St. / 214.824.2533 / graceumcdallas.org

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST

news of deliverance and redemption far and wide. God might have written his love in the skies and in the rising sun so that people looking upward could have read the message: ‘God so loved the world that he gave!’ He might have made the ocean sing his love and nightingales chant his praise. But none of these, not even angels could ever preach, however and say: ‘I’ve been redeemed.’”

God has given you stewardship over one small area of this world, with a set of gifts to serve. You are a steward of God’s mystery in this time and in this place. You are God’s creation to reveal God to the world.

Your life is a canvas. What do others see?

Brent McDougal is pastor of Cliff Temple Baptist Church. The Worship section is a regular feature underwritten by Advocate Publishing and by the neighborhood business people and churches listed on these pages. For information about helping support the Worship section, call 214.560.4202.

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF OAK CLIFF / oakcliffuu.org

Sun. Worship 10am / Wed. Meditation 7pm / 3839 W. Kiest Blvd. Inclusive – Justice Seeking – Spirited – Eclectic – Liberal – Fun!

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

The mystery dwells within us. God lives in broken, messy people like you and me.

TYLER STREET CHRISTIAN ACADEMY

915 W. Ninth St. Dallas, TX 75208

214.941.9717 / tsca.org

Located just a few blocks from Bishop Arts, Tyler Street Christian Academy is a nondenominational, private Christian school. With an 11:1 student/teacher ratio, preschool through 12th grade students receive one-on-one attention in a loving, Christ-centered environment. For the past 45 years, Tyler Street Christian Academy has educated by inspiring students to love learning, strengthening them with Christ-like character and Biblical foundations for living, and encouraging them to pursue their dreams and callings. It is our objective to produce graduates who are intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually mature. We place a high value on servant-leadership, and strive to instill in our students a sense of responsibility for their community.

Success Starts Here.

INSPIRE. STRENGTHEN. ENCOURAGE.

Pre-School through 12th Grade

Learn more at: tsca.org

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Congratulations to the Class of 2017

$5,500,000 in scholarships | $175,000 per graduate | 97% enrolled in AP classes 100% acceptance to top colleges and universities

BISHOP DUNNE CATHOLIC SCHOOL

Contact: Charleen Doan at 214.339.6561 ext. 4020 or admission@bdcs.org

A co-educational, college preparatory school serving students in grades 6-12. We provide a strong faith and value-based education with high academic standards, encouraging all students to achieve their full potential. Our curriculum emphasizes individualized attention, and is constantly at the forefront of technology integration through the use of laptops, ebooks, and our Online Education Program. Additionally, we provide a full range of extracurricular activities ranging from athletics, to the arts, to clubs and service organizations.

AC & HEAT

CLEANING SERVICES

CINDY’S HOUSE CLEANING 15 yrs exp. Resd/Com. Refs. Dependable. 214-490-0133

FATHER, SON, GRANDSON Window Cleaning. Free Est. Derek. 682-716-9892

WINDOW MAN WINDOW CLEANING.COM

Family Owned & Operated

Serving the Dallas area for over 30 years

Residential Specialists. BBB. 214-718-3134

CONCRETE/MASONRY/PAVING

FENCING & DECKS

EST. 1991 #1

COWBOY FENCE & IRON CO.

214.692.1991

SPECIALIZING IN Wood Fences &Auto Gates

cowboyfenceandiron.com

Northlake Fence and Deck

HOUSE PAINTING

214-330-5500

ClassicAirandHeat.com

We raise our kids here, too! TACLB29169ETACLA29042C

APPLIANCE REPAIR

JESSE’S A/C & APPLIANCE SERVICE

TACLB13304C All Makes/Models. 214-660-8898

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

FINANCIAL CONSULTANT

Five Rings Financial has part-time opportunities! JR@FiveRingsFinancial.com 214-702-0033 x502

BUY/SELL/TRADE

CARS/TRUCKS WANTED!!! All Makes/Models. 2000-2016. Any Condition. Running Or Not. Top $$$ Paid. Free Towing. We’re Nationwide. Call Now 1-888-985-1806

CUT THE CABLE. CALL DIRECTV Bundle & Save. Over 145 channels + Genie-HD-DVR. $50 a month for 2 Yrs. (with AT&T Wireless) 1-855-781-1565

RANGERS, STARS & MAVS

Share front-row Texas Rangers, Stars & Mavs seats. Tickets are available in sets of 10 games (sets of 2 or 4 tickets per game available). Participants randomly draw numbers prior to season to determine a draft order fair to everyone. Call 214-560-4212 or rwamre@advocatemag.com

CABINETRY & FURNITURE

JD’S TREE SERVICE Mantels, Headboards, Kitchen Islands, Dining tables. Made from Local Trees. www.jdtreeservice.com 214-946-7138

CLASSES/TUTORING/LESSONS

COLOR ME EMPOWERED

Art Classes & Workshops for Pre K-12. colormeempowered.org. 214-729-2499

CREATIVE ARTS CENTER

More than 500 adult art classes/workshops from metal to mosaic! www.creativeartscenter.org

DYSLEXIA THERAPIST/CALT/TEACHER

Individual or Group Tutoring for Reading. Grades K-12. References. Lindsay 214-566-4622

CLEANING SERVICES

A WORLD CLASS CLEANING SERVICE

You deserve High Standards and Quality Cleaning. You’ve tried the rest... Now try the Best! WindsorMaidServices.com 214-381-MAID (6243)

BRICK, BLOCK, Stone, Concrete, Stucco. Gonzalez Masonry. 214-395-1319

BRICK, STONEWORK, FLAGSTONE PATIOS Mortar Repair. Straighten Brick Mailboxes & Columns. Call Cirilo 214-298-7174

CONCRETE, Driveway Specialist Repairs, Replacement, Removal, References. Reasonable. Chris 214-770-5001

FLAGSTONE PATIOS, Retaining Walls, BBQ’s, Veneer, Flower Bed Edging, All Stone work. Chris 214-770-5001

ELECTRICAL SERVICES

ANNA’S ELECTRIC Your Oak Cliff Electrician Since 1978. tecl25513. 214-943-4890

ANTHONY’S ELECTRIC Master Electrician. TECL24948 anthonyselectricofdallas.com

50 Yrs. Electrical Exp. Insd. 214-328-1333

TH ELECTRIC Reasonable Rates. Licensed & Insured. Ted. E257 214-808-3658

EMPLOYMENT

AIRLINE MECHANIC TRAINING Get FAA certified. Approved for military benefits. Financial aid if qualified. Job placement assistance. Aviation Institute of Maintenance 866-453-6204

EXTERIOR CLEANING

G&G DEMOLITION Tear downs, Haul. Interior/Exterior. 214-808-8925

FENCING & DECKS

#1 COWBOY FENCE & IRON CO. Est. ‘91. 214-692-1991 www.cowboyfenceandiron.com

4 QUALITY FENCING • 214-507-9322 Specializing in Wood, New or Repair.

AMBASSADOR FENCE INC. EST.96 Automatic Gates, Fences/Decks Ambassadorfenceco.com 214-621-3217

FENCING & WOODWORK oldgatefence.com . 214-766-6422

HANNAWOODWORKS.COM

Decks, Pergolas, Patio Covers. 214-435-9574

Locally owned and operated by the Mccaffrey family since1980 214-349-9132

www.northlakefence.com

FLOORING & CARPETING

FENN CONSTRUCTION Manufactored hardwoods. Stone and Tile. Back-splash Specials. 214-343-4645

WILLEFORD HARDWOOD FLOORS 214-824-1166 • WillefordHardwoodFloors.com

GARAGE SERVICES

IDEAL GARAGE DOORS • 972-757-5016

Install & Repair. 10% off to military/1st responders.

UNITED GARAGE DOORS AND GATES Res/Com. Locally Owned.214-826-8096

GLASS, WINDOWS & DOORS

PRO WINDOW CLEANING prompt, dependable. Matt 214-766-2183

ROCK GLASS CO Replace, repair: windows, mirrors, showers, screens. 214-837-7829

HANDYMAN SERVICES

HANDY DAN The Handyman. ToDo’s Done Right. handy-dan.com 214-252-1628

HANDY MANNY PAINTING/HOME REPAIR Int./Ext. Manny 214-334-2160

HANDYMAN SPECIALIST Residential/ Commercial. Large, small jobs, repair list, renovations. Refs. 214-489-0635

HOME REPAIR HANDYMAN Small/Big Jobs + Construction. 30 Yrs. Exp. 214-875-1127

HOMETOWN HANDYMAN All phases of construction. No job too small 214-327-4606

HONEST, SKILLED SERVICE With a Smile. General Repairs/ Maintenance. 214-215-2582

Your Home Repair Specialists

Drywall Doors

RAMON’S INT/EXT PAINT Sheetrock, Repairs. 214-679-4513

KITCHEN/BATH/TILE/GROUT

BLAKE CONSTRUCTION CONCEPTS LLC

Complete Kitchen And Bath Remodels. Tile, Granite, Marble, Travertine, Slate. Insured. 214-563-5035 www.blake-construction.com

FENN CONSTRUCTION Full Service Contractor. dallastileman.com 214-343-4645

STONE AGE COUNTER TOPS

Granite, Quartz, Marble For Kitchen/Bath-Free Est.. stoneage.brandee@gmail.com 940-465-6980

TK REMODELING 972-533-2872

Complete Full Service Repairs, Remodeling, Restoration. Name It — We do it. Tommy. Insured. dallas.tkremodelingcontractors.com

• Tubs, Tiles or Sinks

• Cultured Marble

• Kitchen Countertops

214-631-8719

LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES

A BETTER TREE MAN Trims, Removals, Insd. 12 Yrs Exp. Roberts Tree Service. 214-808-8925

CALL A TREE EXPERT - 469-939-3344 Prune. Stump grind. Plant. Burris Tree Service

DALLAS GROUNDSKEEPER Organic Lawn Maintenance designed to meet your needs. 214-471-5723 dallasgroundskeeper.com

HOLMAN IRRIGATION

Sprinkler & Valve Repair/ Rebuild Older Systems. Lic. #1742. 214-398-8061

IRISH RAIN SPRINKLER SYSTEMS TXL#2738 Repair, Stonework & Drains 214-827-7446

LSI LAWN SPRINKLERS “Making Water Work”

Irrigation system Service & Repair. Specializing In Older Copper Systems. LI #13715. 214-283-4673

HandymanMatters.com/dallas

Senior Safety Carpentry Small & Odd Jobs And More! 972-308-6035

Bonded & Insured. Locally owned & operated.

MAYA TREE SERVICE Tree Trim/Remove. Insd. CC’s Accepted. 214-924-7058 214-770-2435

LAWNS,

GARDENS & TREES

A Better Tree Company

ust

Call Mark Wittli

Your trees could look like a work of art, I guarantee it!

Wittlich 214-332-3444

JD’s Tree Service

RESPONSIBLE TREE CARE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

Firewood/Cooking Wood

Locally harvested wood!

Full service trimming & planting of native trees. 214.946.7138

LEGAL SERVICES

A WILL? THERE IS A WAY! Estate/Probate matters.maryglennattorney.com 214-802-6768

MORTGAGE SERVICES

NEED A PURCHASE, REFIANCE Or Renovation Home Loan? Call Pat Nagler, PrimeLending Sr. Loan Officer (NMLS: 184376) 214-402-4019 for all your mortgage needs.

MOVING

AM MOVING COMPANY Specialty Moving & Delivery.469-278-2304 ammovingcompany.com

PEST CONTROL

A BETTER EARTH PEST CONTROL

Keeping the environment, kids, pets in mind. Organic products avail. 972-564-2495

MCDANIEL PEST CONTROL

Prices Start at $85 + Tax For General Treatment.

Average Home-Interior/Exterior & Attached Garage. Quotes For Other Services. 214-328-2847. Lakewood Resident

PET SERVICES

THE PET DIVAS Pet Sitting, Daily Dog Walks, In Home/Overnight Stays.Basic Obedience Training. thepetdivas.com 817-793-2885. Insured

PLUMBING

AC PLUMBING Repairs, Fixtures, Senior Discounts. Gary Campbell. 214-321-5943

M&S PLUMBING Quality Work & Prompt Service. Jerry. 214-235-2172. lic.#M-11523

NTX PLUMBING SPEC. LLLP 214-226-0913

Lic. M-40581 Res/Com. Repairs & Leak Location

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

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Mobile. SEO Friendly. Maintainable.

AdvocateWebDesign.com 214.292.2053

REMODELING 214-341-1155 bobmcdonaldco.net

1) Meet the teacher. You’ll feel easier knowing who your child will spend the year with.

2) Take a tour. Show your kid their classroom to help alleviate first-day jitters.

3) Get the school supply list. Get your kids excited for class by letting them pick out a fun binder or pencils.

classifieds.advocatemag.com

PLUMBING

THE PLUMBING MANN LLC All Plumbing! Since 1978. Family Owned. RMP/Master-14240 Insured. 214-FAST-FIX/ 214-327-8349

POOLS

LEAFCHASERS POOL SERVICE Parts/Service. Chemicals/Repairs. Jonathan. 214-729-3311

REMODELING

BLAKE CONSTRUCTION CONCEPTS, LLC

Complete Remodeling, Kitchens, Baths, Additions. Hardie Siding & Replacement Windows. Build On Your Own Lot. Insured. www.blake-construction.com 214-563-5035

FENN CONSTRUCTION Full Service Contractor. dallastileman.com 214-343-4645

O’BRIEN GROUP INC. Remodeling Dallas For Over 17 Years www.ObrienGroupInc.com 214-341-1448

RENOVATE DALLAS renovatedallas.com 214-403-7247

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Bob McDonald Company, Inc. BUILDERS/REMODELERS • Turnkey Renovations • Kitchens • Baths • Floors

• Windows FREE ESTIMATES greenlovehomes.com 214.864.2444

Family owned and operated

oakcliff.advocatemag.com AUGUST 2017 29

The power hitter from Oak Cliff

Heinz Becker played in the World Series and held down a fulltime job in the 1940s

By RACHEL STONE

When the Chicago Cubs went to the World Series in October 2016, it was the first time in 71 years.

In that 1945 series, between the Cubs and the Detroit Tigers, one of the players was a guy from Oak Cliff.

Heinz Becker was born in Berlin, Germany in 1915. His family later moved to Venezuela, where his father made a small fortune as a brewer. They arrived in Dallas

around 1925 to pursue cattle ranching.

It was here in Oak Cliff that young Becker, who’d grown up playing soccer, saw his first baseball game.

Becker played for the Dallas Eagles of the Texas League, whose Oak Cliff home stadium later became known as Burnett Field, and for a Chicago White Sox farm team in Louisiana.

From there, he was picked up by the Milwaukee Brewers.

“First thing that happened at Milwaukee was [manager] Charley Grimm pulling me out of the outfield and sticking me on first base,” Becker told a Dallas newspaper in 1945. “Don’t know why, but the change affected my hitting, and I notched .340 and was second to teammate Eddie Stanky whose .342 led the American Association. It was the best batting mark I ever made.”

Becker also led the league in runs batted in that year.

At 26, married with two children and a fulltime job at General Motors, Becker went to Cubs spring training in March 1945.

Becker was a switch hitter and weighed 200 pounds, a muscle-bound power hitter.

That year for the Cubs, he played first base in 67 games and batted .286. He hit two home runs, 27 RBIs and scored 25 runs, according to Baseball Reference.

He made three appearances as a pinch hitter in the World Series, going 1-for2 with a walk. He hit a single against pitcher Dizzy Trout in game four.

The Cubs lost that World Series, which was followed by a decades-long pennant drought on the north side of Chicago.

Becker was traded to the Cleveland Indians in 1946. He played in 59 games and batted .299 there. Cleveland released him the following spring, and he signed with the Boston Braves, but his big-league career was over.

He was 30 years old, and his performance had suffered from bunions — his fellow players actually nicknamed him “bunions.” Becker had foot surgery following the 1945 season.

By June of 1950, Becker was back on the Oak Cliff ball field playing for the Dallas Eagles, where he played through a shoulder injury early in the season.

“He was a shy, goodnatured gentle giant of a boy and a natural athlete.”

Left: Heinz Becker’s Chicago Cubs baseball card. Opposite page: A program from the 1945 World Series. Images courtesy of the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame and the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Local sports columnist Charles Burton quoted an anonymous source who said the first baseman wasn’t fit to play because of his bunion trouble.

“They’ll have to keep a first baseman down at Gladewater or Gainesville with a bus ticket in his hand,” the source said. “Somebody will be shuttling into Dallas all season.”

Becker also suffered that season because he was much stronger hitting from the left side, and the Eagles faced an unusual number of left-handed pitchers, which forced Becker to bat from his weaker side to avoid the lefty-versus-lefty matchup.

He’d hoped to play in all 154 games that season, but the Eagles released him in late July.

Married couple Brandon Herrmann and Cheryl Fox bought Becker’s former home on West Clarendon a few years ago. Their neighbors told them stories about Becker and showed them where

there are old Chicago Cubs stickers on the carport.

“He was apparently pretty good,” Hermann says. “And it’s amazing to think he worked a fulltime job the whole time when he wasn’t playing baseball.”

The highest paid players in Major League Baseball earned $25,000 in 1945, according to the Society of American Baseball Research.

Becker died in Dallas in 1991 at age 76. He remains one of the few German-born players ever to appear in the major leagues.

We couldn’t find an obituary for Becker, but Sam Blair of the Dallas Morning News mentioned him in a column a few weeks after his death.

In it, friend Al Harting was quoted: “He was a shy, good-natured gentle giant of a boy and a natural athlete. He could kick a football or soccer ball a mile and knock a baseball out of the neighborhood.”

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