Forrest M. Austin

AUSTIN, COE, WILSON, BROWN, SWABB, SIDDENS, GRAY, ROBERTS, HOFMEISTER, ECKELS, DODD, LARIMER, WILLIS, HILLIARD

Posted By: Nancy Hofmeister (email)
Date: 2/10/2008 at 13:01:29

Creston New Advertiser

Forrest M. Austin, 83, 311 S. Clayton Street, Afton, died Dec. 31, 1997, at Greater Community Hospital in Creston.

Services will be 10:30 a.m. Jan 3 at Powers Funeral Home, 601 New York Avenue. The Rev. Dwayne Henrichs of Thayer will officiate the service. Burial will be in Greenlawn Cemetery at Afton. There is open visitation after 9 a.m. today with the family receiving friends 7 to 9 p.m. today at the Powers Funeral Home in Creston. A memorial will be established in his name.

Mr. Austin was born Aug. 17, 1914, near Arispe to Robert Briggs and Martha J. "Mattie" (Wilson) Austin. He attended Arispe and Winterset schools. On Oct. 23, 1938, he married Janice Coe in Winterset.

He worked for the Winterset News and later The Madisonian newspaper, before and after his marriage. After his marriage, he farmed in Madison County from 1939 to 1952. He moved to Afton where he owned and operated Austin Auto Parts until selling in 1965. They constructed homes in Afton and surrounding area from 1965-69. In 1969, they moved north of Afton where they returned to farming and continuing to build homes. In March 1987, they moved to their present home where he did woodworking and wrote for the Afton-Star Enterprise newspaper. Mr. Austin and his family held "The Sorghum Days" festival at their farm from 1978-85.

Survivors include his wife, Janice Austin of Afton; three sons, Marion Austin, Gary (wife Alice) Austin and Alan (wife Kathy) Austin, all of Afton; five daughters, Kathryn (husband Gary) Siddens of Afton, Beth Gray of St. Charles, Virginia (husband Dick) Roberts of Ozark, Mo., Nancy (husband Lanny) Hofmeister of Creston and Mary Eckels of Thayer; a brother, Jerry (wife Carolyn) Austin of St. Charles; a sister, Frieda (husband Joe) Dodd of Laurie, Mo.; a son-in-law, Dennis Larimer of Red Wing, Minn.; a brother-in-law, Dana Harper of Lorimor, 22 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.

He was preced in death by this parents; a daughter, Linda Larimer; a granddaughter, two sons-in-law, Stephen Eckels and Chuck Gray; two sisters, Betty in infancy and Eunice Harper; and three brothers, Robert, Leonard and Ivan Austin.