Stephen Austin

Stephen Austin

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Stephen Bruce Austin, 44, died Saturday, Jan. 3, 2009, at his home in Charleston.

He was born Nov. 12, 1964, in Cairo, Ill., son of Bruce Raymond and Myrtle "Sisser" Goodin Austin. He and Sherry Crisel were married Feb. 3, 1996. She survives.

He was a 1983 graduate of Charleston High School and attended the University of Missouri Medical School in Kansas City as well as Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.

He was a member of the Charleston United Methodist Church. An Eagle Scout, he had served as a scout leader and was a member of the Charleston Masonic Lodge 407 AF & AM. He was a 32nd degree Mason of the Scottish Rite, a Shriner of the Moolah Temple in St. Louis, and had served on the board of the Mississippi County Farm Bureau and the Charleston Chamber of Commerce. At the time of his death, he worked as a grant administrator and speaker for the Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center in East Prairie.

Others survivors include his parents; a daughter, Catherine "Catie" Jane Austin of Charleston; two brothers, Sam Goodin Austin of Cape Girardeau and David Elgin Austin of Webster Groves, Mo.

He was preceded in death by his grandparents.

Friends may call from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. today at the United Methodist Church in Charleston. Masonic Rites are scheduled for 7 p.m.

The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the church, with the Rev. Dan Faust officiating. Interment will be in the IOOF Cemetery under the direction of McMikle Funeral Home.