Former Emporia resident Kirk Brough Austin of Parsons died Saturday, Jan. 27, 2007, at the Parsons Good Samaritan Center where he had lived since July 2006. He was 89.
Mr. Austin and his wife founded Kirk Austin's Dry Goods in 1948 at Parsons, later named Kirk Austin's Fabrics. They closed the business and retired in 1991. He served in the Quartermaster Corps of the U.S. Army during World War II.
The son of Earl and Maude Brough Austin, he was born May 26, 1917, on a ranch in the Flint Hills near Strong City. He grew up in Emporia and attended Emporia schools and Kansas State Teachers College.
He married Barbara Eloise Pyle on March 16, 1941, at Grace Methodist Church in Emporia. She survives.
Mr. Austin was a Methodist. He was a member of Parsons Masonic Lodge 117 A.F. & A.M.; Parsons Chapter 39, Royal Arch Masons; Coeur de Lion Commandery 17, Knights Templar; the Fort Scott Consistory; Mirza Shrine of Pittsburg; a past president of the Parsons Kiwanis Club; and a member of the Parsons school board. He was a life member of the American Legion and Disabled American Veterans.
He is also survived by one son, T.J. Austin of Oklahoma City, Okla.; three daughters, Virginia Constance of Lawrence, Nancy Swanwick of Fort Scott and Carolyn Austin of Lynnwood, Wash.; eight grandchildren; four great-grandchildren.
The memorial service was today at Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home at Parsons. Burial will be at Maplewood Cemetery at Emporia.
Memorial contributions to the Parsons Good Samaritan Center may be sent in care of the funeral home, P.O. Box 374, Parsons, KS 67357.
(Emporia Gazette ~ February 3, 2007)
Kirk Brough Austin was born on a farm near Saffordville, Kansas. He was the first and only child born to Earl and Maude Austin. When he was a very small child, his dad's newly purchased purebred cattle wandered out onto ice on a pond, drowned, and threw the family into financial grief. Earl packed up the family, moved into Emporia, took odd jobs, then was able to secure a car cleaning job with the Santa Fe Railroad. They lived in a humble home by the tracks, and were all hard workers. His mother was part of a group that made dinners and other things to help raise the money to build the parsonage for their church, Grace Methodist. Dad sang in the choir and in quartets for funerals, played football in high school and college, and worked for the school to help pay tuition. He was a very shy guy, but fell deeply in love with a classmate's younger sister. Dad became a very affectionate husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, and great grandfather, a very successful business owner, a WWII veteran, a school board member, a 33rd degree Mason, a leader in the Kiwanis club, and a willing worker in his church. He and mother were married nearly 66 years at the time of his death. - written by his daughter, Nancy Austin Swanwick on the 100th anniversary of his birth.
Mr. Austin and his wife founded Kirk Austin's Dry Goods in 1948 at Parsons, later named Kirk Austin's Fabrics. They closed the business and retired in 1991. He served in the Quartermaster Corps of the U.S. Army during World War II.
The son of Earl and Maude Brough Austin, he was born May 26, 1917, on a ranch in the Flint Hills near Strong City. He grew up in Emporia and attended Emporia schools and Kansas State Teachers College.
He married Barbara Eloise Pyle on March 16, 1941, at Grace Methodist Church in Emporia. She survives.
Mr. Austin was a Methodist. He was a member of Parsons Masonic Lodge 117 A.F. & A.M.; Parsons Chapter 39, Royal Arch Masons; Coeur de Lion Commandery 17, Knights Templar; the Fort Scott Consistory; Mirza Shrine of Pittsburg; a past president of the Parsons Kiwanis Club; and a member of the Parsons school board. He was a life member of the American Legion and Disabled American Veterans.
He is also survived by one son, T.J. Austin of Oklahoma City, Okla.; three daughters, Virginia Constance of Lawrence, Nancy Swanwick of Fort Scott and Carolyn Austin of Lynnwood, Wash.; eight grandchildren; four great-grandchildren.
The memorial service was today at Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home at Parsons. Burial will be at Maplewood Cemetery at Emporia.
Memorial contributions to the Parsons Good Samaritan Center may be sent in care of the funeral home, P.O. Box 374, Parsons, KS 67357.
(Emporia Gazette ~ February 3, 2007)
Kirk Brough Austin was born on a farm near Saffordville, Kansas. He was the first and only child born to Earl and Maude Austin. When he was a very small child, his dad's newly purchased purebred cattle wandered out onto ice on a pond, drowned, and threw the family into financial grief. Earl packed up the family, moved into Emporia, took odd jobs, then was able to secure a car cleaning job with the Santa Fe Railroad. They lived in a humble home by the tracks, and were all hard workers. His mother was part of a group that made dinners and other things to help raise the money to build the parsonage for their church, Grace Methodist. Dad sang in the choir and in quartets for funerals, played football in high school and college, and worked for the school to help pay tuition. He was a very shy guy, but fell deeply in love with a classmate's younger sister. Dad became a very affectionate husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, and great grandfather, a very successful business owner, a WWII veteran, a school board member, a 33rd degree Mason, a leader in the Kiwanis club, and a willing worker in his church. He and mother were married nearly 66 years at the time of his death. - written by his daughter, Nancy Austin Swanwick on the 100th anniversary of his birth.
Former Emporia resident Kirk Brough Austin of Parsons died Saturday, Jan. 27, 2007, at the Parsons Good Samaritan Center where he had lived since July 2006. He was 89.
Mr. Austin and his wife founded Kirk Austin's Dry Goods in 1948 at Parsons, later named Kirk Austin's Fabrics. They closed the business and retired in 1991. He served in the Quartermaster Corps of the U.S. Army during World War II.
The son of Earl and Maude Brough Austin, he was born May 26, 1917, on a ranch in the Flint Hills near Strong City. He grew up in Emporia and attended Emporia schools and Kansas State Teachers College.
He married Barbara Eloise Pyle on March 16, 1941, at Grace Methodist Church in Emporia. She survives.
Mr. Austin was a Methodist. He was a member of Parsons Masonic Lodge 117 A.F. & A.M.; Parsons Chapter 39, Royal Arch Masons; Coeur de Lion Commandery 17, Knights Templar; the Fort Scott Consistory; Mirza Shrine of Pittsburg; a past president of the Parsons Kiwanis Club; and a member of the Parsons school board. He was a life member of the American Legion and Disabled American Veterans.
He is also survived by one son, T.J. Austin of Oklahoma City, Okla.; three daughters, Virginia Constance of Lawrence, Nancy Swanwick of Fort Scott and Carolyn Austin of Lynnwood, Wash.; eight grandchildren; four great-grandchildren.
The memorial service was today at Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home at Parsons. Burial will be at Maplewood Cemetery at Emporia.
Memorial contributions to the Parsons Good Samaritan Center may be sent in care of the funeral home, P.O. Box 374, Parsons, KS 67357.
(Emporia Gazette ~ February 3, 2007)
Kirk Brough Austin was born on a farm near Saffordville, Kansas. He was the first and only child born to Earl and Maude Austin. When he was a very small child, his dad's newly purchased purebred cattle wandered out onto ice on a pond, drowned, and threw the family into financial grief. Earl packed up the family, moved into Emporia, took odd jobs, then was able to secure a car cleaning job with the Santa Fe Railroad. They lived in a humble home by the tracks, and were all hard workers. His mother was part of a group that made dinners and other things to help raise the money to build the parsonage for their church, Grace Methodist. Dad sang in the choir and in quartets for funerals, played football in high school and college, and worked for the school to help pay tuition. He was a very shy guy, but fell deeply in love with a classmate's younger sister. Dad became a very affectionate husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, and great grandfather, a very successful business owner, a WWII veteran, a school board member, a 33rd degree Mason, a leader in the Kiwanis club, and a willing worker in his church. He and mother were married nearly 66 years at the time of his death. - written by his daughter, Nancy Austin Swanwick on the 100th anniversary of his birth.
Mr. Austin and his wife founded Kirk Austin's Dry Goods in 1948 at Parsons, later named Kirk Austin's Fabrics. They closed the business and retired in 1991. He served in the Quartermaster Corps of the U.S. Army during World War II.
The son of Earl and Maude Brough Austin, he was born May 26, 1917, on a ranch in the Flint Hills near Strong City. He grew up in Emporia and attended Emporia schools and Kansas State Teachers College.
He married Barbara Eloise Pyle on March 16, 1941, at Grace Methodist Church in Emporia. She survives.
Mr. Austin was a Methodist. He was a member of Parsons Masonic Lodge 117 A.F. & A.M.; Parsons Chapter 39, Royal Arch Masons; Coeur de Lion Commandery 17, Knights Templar; the Fort Scott Consistory; Mirza Shrine of Pittsburg; a past president of the Parsons Kiwanis Club; and a member of the Parsons school board. He was a life member of the American Legion and Disabled American Veterans.
He is also survived by one son, T.J. Austin of Oklahoma City, Okla.; three daughters, Virginia Constance of Lawrence, Nancy Swanwick of Fort Scott and Carolyn Austin of Lynnwood, Wash.; eight grandchildren; four great-grandchildren.
The memorial service was today at Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home at Parsons. Burial will be at Maplewood Cemetery at Emporia.
Memorial contributions to the Parsons Good Samaritan Center may be sent in care of the funeral home, P.O. Box 374, Parsons, KS 67357.
(Emporia Gazette ~ February 3, 2007)
Kirk Brough Austin was born on a farm near Saffordville, Kansas. He was the first and only child born to Earl and Maude Austin. When he was a very small child, his dad's newly purchased purebred cattle wandered out onto ice on a pond, drowned, and threw the family into financial grief. Earl packed up the family, moved into Emporia, took odd jobs, then was able to secure a car cleaning job with the Santa Fe Railroad. They lived in a humble home by the tracks, and were all hard workers. His mother was part of a group that made dinners and other things to help raise the money to build the parsonage for their church, Grace Methodist. Dad sang in the choir and in quartets for funerals, played football in high school and college, and worked for the school to help pay tuition. He was a very shy guy, but fell deeply in love with a classmate's younger sister. Dad became a very affectionate husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, and great grandfather, a very successful business owner, a WWII veteran, a school board member, a 33rd degree Mason, a leader in the Kiwanis club, and a willing worker in his church. He and mother were married nearly 66 years at the time of his death. - written by his daughter, Nancy Austin Swanwick on the 100th anniversary of his birth.
Family Members
Children
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
