Thomas D. Austin

Dolan Austin heard the words of his beloved Earldean ring out – What took you so long? “Tom”

was just a few hours shy of his 87th birthday when he was reunited with the love of his life.

Tom was born on January 27, 1934 in Monroe, NC to the late Crofford and Ila Helms Austin.

He was the youngest of five siblings, but a man of his stature was by no means known as the

baby - he was a natural born leader. Growing up, Tom lived the typical rural farm life, joining

the Army soon after graduating from high school. While home following basic training, Tom

saw Earldean and it was love at first sight. They married, only to say goodbye days later when

Tom left to proudly serve his country in Korea. Early in his tour of duty, the leadership ranks

were astonished with Tom’s ability to maintain and extend the life of the aging vehicle fleet and

he was promoted to motor sergeant, where he directed many men “twice his age” as he liked

to tell it. Upon his return, Tom and Earldean packed up their daughters and headed to

Columbia, SC to help start Diesel Injection, a business where he spent many years until

ultimately winding down his career in management at Shealy Mack Truck Sales.

Tom had a passion for all things mechanical. There was nothing he couldn’t repair. If he was

without his pocket notebook, which was rare, he would gladly grab a napkin and scribble down

the schematics on how to disassemble your shotgun in need of repair. Need a firing pin for a

rifle made in the 1800’s? No problem, if he couldn’t find it on the web he would machine one

for you on his lathe. He was more accomplished in his “hobby” than many who claim the

Gunsmith profession. Nothing intimidated Tom, including computers and smartphones. The

fact that Brownells has an online catalog may have had a little something to do with his

willingness to navigate Windows and use a mouse. And as a side benefit of this new found

ability, the computer gave him email, which he used frequently to forward emails to everyone

he knew! The smartphone allowed him to text his girls to tell them good night – always ending

with emoji’s, and to take pictures of his precious pup, Molly, which he would share with anyone

he could.

Many people may not know this, but Tom was a founding father – of Cooks Mountain Hunt

Club. Tom was the ultimate outdoorsman, the woods were his second home. His family

supported his love as the young Austin girls spent Friday nights reloading ammo at the family

table. The living room adorned the horns of Tom’s success in the woods, and Earldean gladly

allowed him to show off his prize.

Most of all Tom loved his family. He teased his girls routinely, such as the time he called them

to the window claiming – “It’s snowing!” They would rush to the window and look outside, at

which point he would say jokingly – “in Alaska.” The girls routinely asked Tom, please daddy,

can we join the pool club this summer? Only to have him say “When my ship comes in we’ll

join.” Tom’s ship finally came in one summer and, as promised, the Austin family joined the

local pool. Times were tough, but life was good at the Austin home.

A member at St. Andrews Baptist Church for over 50 years, Tom was best known as the usher

who always had a piece of candy for the kids and a hug for the ladies.

Tom was predeceased by his beloved wife, Earldean; his parents; and four siblings, Mildred,

Varon, Mary, and Melburn.

Tom is survived by his four daughters and eight grandchildren: Rhonda (husband Jeff, children

Allen and Leslie), Kathy (husband Jimmy, children Travis and Channing), Norma Jean (husband

Mike, children Austin and Natalie), Amy (husband Pat, children Jeremy and Mallory).

Tom was blessed with 10 great grandchildren, many in-laws, nieces, nephews, friends and

family too numerous to list but not forgotten.

The family especially wants to thank the special friend who agreed to take Tom’s “magic shop

of gun repair”, where you never know what kind of special tool, bit, blade or bolt you’ll find.

We’ll see you tomorrow so you can start the load up process – it’s gonna take you awhile.

The family and friends will celebrate Tom’s life with a graveside service on February 1, 2021 at

2:00 pm at the Bush River Memorial Gardens. If you didn’t know Tom, you might want to avoid

Bush River Road Monday afternoon as the countless lives he touched saying their last farewell

will likely cause traffic delays akin to a Charleston hurricane evacuation.

Charitable donations in Tom’s name may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project at

https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/donate or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at

www.stjude.org/donate.