The Becker family
Louis and Mathilda Becker were a part of Issaquah’s boom days before the turn of the century. Louie and Tilda, as they were known, were both born in Sweden but immigrated to the United States separately. They met and married back East, and moved to Issaquah as a young couple sometime before 1890.
They found a town poised for an economic explosion based on coal mining and logging. The forward-thinking couple built a modern boarding house for the town’s hard-working bachelors, and christened it “Hotel Stockholm” in memory of their homeland.
Tilda’s cooking was a big hit with the hungry workmen, and all members of the family were kept busy in the hotel. Even after Louie’s death, Tilda kept the operation going until her retirement in the 1920s. She then settled into a big house on Bush Street, where other younger family members had built homes.
The couple had one son, Elmer, who never married, and three daughters-Lil Becker Enberg, Blanche Becker Hoye and Myrtle Becker McQuade. Although the family surname has faded away, many of Louie and Tilda’s grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren still live in the Issaquah area.
