Ida L. Austin

Ida Austin, 93, of South Portland, Maine passed away January 7, 2026, with her sons by her side.

Ida was born in Tully, N.Y. to Clarence and Pearl Hobart on January 13, 1932.

She met her future husband George Austin in Allentown, PA while attending training to become an OR Surgical Technician. They were married in November 1953 and lived in Portland, ME, N.J., N.Y., and CT before returning to Maine in 1972.

Ida worked at several jobs throughout her life including OR Surgical Tech, a manager for Philips-Sylvania that required 60,000 miles of driving in 18 months (several police stops where she never got a ticket), several part-time jobs while raising her boys and ultimately retiring as a lab technician at Maine Medical Center (MMC).

In her retirement she enjoyed being a Foster Grandparent at MMC where she mostly rocked sick or premature babies in the NICU. Ida also enjoyed cooking and baking for family, friends, neighbors and fellow church attendees at the South Portland Church of the Nazarene (SPCN). She always had something in the freezer (usually her famous pumpkin bread or tomato basil soup) for the sick or to give as a gift. Ida also enjoyed gardening and bird watching. In fact, in her "slightly" stubborn way, she defied the rules of not feeding the birds at Pinnacle Nursing Home by leaving crumbs from her meals on the window sill.

Ida developed a close friendship with widowed Herman Labelle, also from SPCN. The two traveled frequently around southern Maine and spent some time in Florida. Eventually, Herman moved into the same apartment building as Ida, right across the hall for the remainder of his 100 years.

Ida was predeceased by her husband, George, both parents, two brothers, and six sisters. She is survived by her two sons, Dale Austin and wife Zoe (Knox) of Harrisburg, PA, and Daniel Austin of Westbrook, ME. Ida was known as Gram to her two grandchildren, Scott Austin of Rochester, N.Y., his wife Tracey, and Bethany (Austin) Kresge and her husband Joshua of Binghamton, N.Y., and her four great grandsons.

The family is especially appreciative of the love and friendship from Ida's special friends, Rev. Nancy Smith, Gen Magnuson, and Jeanne Gaboriault. The three visited, called, and wrote notes to Ida for many years. Their kindnesses, and that of Gen's husband, Rev. Art Magnuson, will be remembered forever.

We must also recognize the wonderful treatment Ida received from everyone at Pinnacle Health & Rehab Nursing Home in South Portland. It was so comforting for the family to see how everyone at Pinnacle treated Ida with such care and attention, especially during her final hours.

Services will be held at a date to be determined in the spring.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made online to Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (https://ncm.org ) under the Memorial Giving tab, or by check to GENERAL TREASURER and mailed to Global Treasury Services, Church of the Nazarene, 17001 Prairie Star Pkwy, Lenexa, KS 66220.