Markus Alexander Roby

Markus Alexander Roby died unexpectedly of heart failure at his Austin residence on December 4, 2025. He was 53 years old. Markus is survived by his parents, Edward and Margarete Roby of Steinbach, Germany, and his sister, Alexia Roby of Berlin. His younger brother, Mathias, predeceased him in 2020.

Markus had been employed for the past 17 years by the technical and engineering division of the city of Austin. He was a 1996 engineering graduate of Texas A&M University in College Station graduate. His secondary schooling in Germany included the Ernst Kalkuhl Gymnasium in Bonn and Altkönig Schule in Kronberg.

Markus was born on December 12, 1972 in Hornell in western New York State. After one of his family's many journalism career moves, Markus attended primary schools first in Richmond, Virginia, then in the Fairfax County suburb of Washington D.C. and finally in Bonn and Frankfurt, Germany. He subsequently served his U.S. Army enlistment in the 4th Battlion, 12th Infantry in Baumholder, Germany, before moving to Texas as a college student.

He had exhibited early talent in graphic arts and wood carving. He was aways a voracious reader of books on science and history and remained an avid student and critic of current events and geopolitics. He impressed his many friends on two continents with his broad knowledge of such subjects. Markus was also an enthusiastic alpine snowboarder, played soccer in a Fairfax police youth league and especially relished his fishing and camping excursions with family and buddies. His hobbies in Texas included playing billiard and home-brewing a unique-style ale with his friends. In Hawaii, where his paternal grandparents lived in retirement, he once climbed the nearly 14,000-foot Mauna Loa volcano in mid-winter with his father and uncle, both also military veterans.

Markus is remembered as an ethical, responsible and clean-living citizen upon whom his friends knew they could depend in a pinch. The values instilled by his Christian upbringing sustained him throughout life. Bereft when the woman who was his long-time partner left him, he sought and found solace in his faith. In more recent years he discovered a passion for theoretical mathematics, winning accolades for his paper on advanced math problems in a correspondence course sponsored by his employer. Markus once expected to retire eventually in Hawaii because his uncle intended to make him heir to his house there. His final long-distance excursion out of Austin was just three months ago when he joined his father at his uncle's funeral on the big island. Markus' health had already been declining for some time and he may have realized that this Hawaiian future might be out of reach.

A funeral ceremony is scheduled for 11 a.m. on January 31st in the chapel of Harrell Funeral Home in (4435 Frontier Trail) Austin. Friends and colleagues are invited to attend.