Michael Austin

Michael Bruce Austin, age 78, passed away peacefully in his sleep, at home on August 4, 2025. Mike was diagnosed with metastatic cancer only 2 weeks prior to his passing and while we grieve this loss we we celebrate Mike’s vibrant life lived fully and independently until the very end. We are grateful to the good people at Centra Hospice for their care in allowing Mike to remain lucid and without pain in his final days. The night before he passed, a spontaneous gathering of friends and family occurred. We turned on the music and celebrated Mike’s life with him. A fitting last image of Mike is of his smiling face as he played the air guitar then waved goodnight to all as he was wheeled from the room and the party ended. 

Mike was born in Saginaw, Michigan, to Kenneth Lewis and Ruth Ann Austin in 1947. He spent his childhood in Saginaw with his parents and his surviving sister Beth Ann Austin-Cardona. Mike formed lifelong friendships that he treasured throughout his life. Mike married his middle-school sweetheart, Kathleen Rose Marks, in 1967 and they relocated to Lansing, Michigan, where Mike attended Michigan State University briefly before he enlisted in the U.S. Army. Mike was stationed in Fort Polk, Louisiana and in 1969 he was awarded an Honorable Discharge. Mike and Kate returned to Michigan and welcomed their daughter, Alice Lynn Austin in December, 1969. Mike eventually became a Geographic Information System (GIS) specialist and worked at The Nature Conservancy as a cartographer. Upon the arrival of their first grandchild, Mike and Kate moved to Lynchburg, Virginia to live closer to Alice and her husband Bob. They took joy in their three grandchildren Lily Skye, Pax, and Teak for an all-too short time before Kate was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers and passed away on the 16th of September 2018. That day was their 50th wedding anniversary and Mike often joked that Kate held on until that very day because she would want (and deserved) credit for every last year she had to put up with him. Mike was a passionate lover of music and in retirement took up studying guitar. He reveled in weekly jam sessions with a local group of friends and fellow musicians where his joy for music flourished. An artist at heart, his home was filled with pottery bowls he enjoyed making and giving away to friends and family. Some of his great joys in life included: Reminiscing and annual visits to Michigan to see beloved friends and family, attending concerts and music festivals with his favorite people, admiring classic cars at car shows, camping at Ludington State Park every summer, watching his best dog catch frisbees, enjoying sunsets over Lake Michigan with his feet in the sand next to Kate’s, floating down the James River in a homemade pontoon boat with dear friends every week. Some of Alice’s favorite memories with her father come from attending concerts together. After seeing Robert Earl Keen a while back he told her, “When my time comes this is what I want: play the song ‘The Road Goes On Forever and The Party Never Ends,’, have as few tears as possible, dancing if you can, turn up the volume, Darlin’ and play me out.”

Mike requested a private memorial where he will be placed to rest with his wife Kate in Michigan. For all who knew and loved Mike we ask that you take a moment to smile and remember him at his finest - likely under a blue sky, in a Hawaiian shirt, with some good people, some good tunes, finding a way to make everyone laugh about the absurdities of life, and reminding us all to be good to each other.