This is a celebration of the life of Earl Grady Austin, Sr., who passed away on May 3, 2011. Earl was the first of two children born to Alice Austin on June 17, 1941 in the town of Monroe, which is located in Walton County, Georgia.
He graduated from Dunbar High School in Dayton, Ohio in 1959. He then went on to attend Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, where he majored in chemistry. Central State was also where he met the love of his life, Sandra Pauline Unseld, of Louisville, Kentucky. They were married on December 28, 1963 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Earl was also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, having joined in 1961. He received his 50 year membership pin in 2011. Earl spent 46 years as a chemist in the laboratory at the Schlitz Brewing Company and Anheuser-Busch. He worked at the Schlitz Brewery in Milwaukee from 1963-1976 and in Syracuse, New York from 1976-1980. Earl then moved his family to St. Louis in 1980 to work at Anheuser-Busch as the Pilot Lab Manager until his retirement in 2009. Earl’s love for his job is surpassed only by his passion for coaching sports.
He spent much of his adult life coaching baseball, softball and basketball at the youth, high school and adult levels. He was a star player and the coach for the Schlitz Company basketball and softball teams that won several industrial league championships in the city of Milwaukee during the 1960s and 70s. He also coached the Schlitz Company team in Syracuse for four years. In St. Louis, Earl was the manager of the Florissant Trojans youth baseball team in the Florissant Area Athletic Association, which was one of the top youth baseball teams in the St. Louis area. One of his star players was his youngest son, Richard Austin, who has now followed in his father’s footsteps as a manager in the professional baseball minor leagues. Whether he was coaching young children, teenagers or adults, Earl was a tremendous mentor and coach with his patient approach and laid-back demeanor. He was a quiet leader who commanded respect and inspired everyone in all facets of his life. Earl was a loyal friend, a very loving father and most of all, a devoted husband to his wife Sandra, who preceded him in death in 2009. Earl was at Sandra’s bedside day and night, taking care of her throughout her long illness.
Earl Austin, Sr. is survived by: his mother, Alice Austin of Dayton, Ohio; his children, Earl Grady Austin, Jr. of St. Louis, MO, and Richard Unseld Austin of Rockford, Illinois; his brother, Richard Austin on St. Croix, US Virgin Islands; his sister, Jean Johnson of Cincinnati, Ohio; his four grandchildren, Robin Charles Thompson, Austin James Thompson, Sean Tracy Thompson and Richard Unseld Austin, Jr.; his uncle, John Bloodsaw and aunts, Lois Harrison and Ruth McGuire of Dayton, Ohio; along with many in-laws, cousins, nieces, nephews, other family members, friends and former players, all of whom Earl has brought much love and inspiration.
