It's taken me a while to write this, and I still don't know how to put everything I feel into words, but I'm deeply grateful for Austin. I met him a couple years ago through a friend of a friend and he has impacted my life in an incredible way. He has been a beacon of light during a dark time. His encouragement, positivity and support has stuck with me because he radiates all of those things. He is one of the most compassionate people I've had the pleasure of meeting and I'm blessed he was part of my life for as long as he was. 

Austin - thank you so much. You've impacted me more than you know.

Austin is one of the first new friends I had made during CAS. Incredibly warm person with loads of positive energy. Vera Austin and I had formed such a bond and camaraderie that helped us through intensive times during CAS assignments. Although I had never had the chance to meet you in person, Venessa, there was always a shy smile on his face whenever he brings up your name and there is always great things to say. I can’t describe my shock in words hearing the news of his passing, I wish you find comfort in the beautiful memories of him through this difficult time. I will always keep memories of him in my heart.  
~ Yi, from Singapore 

Austin was a nice and warm person and we had a short and pleasant experience working together. It is a big lost for all of us!

I worked with Austin at Apple and he was one the nicest and kindest people I have ever met. He was the type of person to go out of his way for others.  He was also a great teacher, he helped me with some python coding for a project of mine and never made me feel dumb for all the questions I had.  It was truly heartbreaking to hear of his passing. Sending all the prayers and love to his family. 

Dear Austin,

I am so grateful to have had you as a friend.  We had a lot of fond memories together in high school.  This was from our high school prom.

- David Lipp

Austin was the embodiment of a true friend.  I first met Austin during Junior Year of High School at Seven Lakes.  My family had just moved to Katy, TX from Lafayette, LA.  I walked into my first day of school as the “new kid.”  As I entered my first class of the day–History– I remember the anxiety in assessing where to sit in a sea of unknown faces.  But someone stuck out from the remaining open seats and judgmental looks, a curious-looking guy.  He had long hair, a bright, cheery shirt, and an air of coolness.  After finding my seat and settling in, I turned around and introduced myself.  Little did I know that this curious-looking guy would later become one of my best friends, and later still, a groomsman in my wedding.  


Dear Austin,

I'm so grateful that we met and became friends. You have this power to bring energy and joy to people, and I loved every time we spent together, from road trips to hackathons to you coaching me for basketball. My times with you are some of the best times of my life!
That photo is from our trip to Zion and we had so much fun. I remember how much we laughed during that trip!

Austin, you're the best

Dear Austin - 

All the good memories and photos we had together constantly remind me of what a special person you are. You are always so fun to be around with, you care about others more so than yourself, and you have such big heart that constantly brings joy to people around you. 

The memory of yours will always be part of our lives, and we will never forget all the good times we spent together - over hot pot, Korean bbq, on those hikes and during those trips. 

Hope you continue to be surrounded by joy and peace at a better place.

- Julie 

Austin you’ll be missed greatly. Your friends: Ali, Stephen, Brian, Sumit, Huma, Molade, Aylin, Danish, Jaipal and Mehrnaz

Austin was our colleague and friend at Amazon. Rest in peace Austin. Your friends: Stephen, Ali, Huma, Jaipal, Aylin, Molade, Brian, Sumit, Danish and Mehrnaz

It was always fun randomly running into you around Sunnyvale, going on random boba runs, and taking trips with you guys. You have also been an inspiration to me and helped me with so much in the past. I can't thank you enough for everything. You'll always be in my treasured memories. ❤️

So many wonderful memories playing together at Seven Lakes. Gigs as a piano quintet. Charlie Brown musical pit. Rachmaninoff in Carnegie Hall. His kindness and natural talent were unparalleled. 

Austin was always willing to help others. We were shocked at the devastation from the F5 tornados that hit Norman OK back in 2013. Without hesitation started making plans to go up to Oklahoma and figure out a way to help. Making the trip there we just showed up near the disaster area and found the first organization that need help. We were bussed into the disaster area and helped clear debris and recover precious items like photographs and things of value for the families affected.

Even to this day, Austin would always willing to help in any way possible. For example, he spent many hours teaching and advising me on multiple skills he'd mastered from his foray at some of the biggest tech companies.

Today my life is better off from my friendship with Austin. I was in a rut in my last job and Austin mentored me into pursuing a role in tech sales, which has led me to the job I am in today. My life has been forever impacted by his friendship and his willingness to help.

Austin was a very humble and down-to-earth guy. He was an amazing low-key pianist. Not a lot of people know that he was an All-State pianist at Seven Lakes HS. My parents always had a piano in the house growing even though no one in my family knew how to play. Anytime Austin would come over he would hop on the piano blow everyone’s minds with his dexterity and skillfulness, then would play off his skill as something that was “average” or “mediocre” when we all knew it was far from that.

My first job out of college was in Midland Texas and Austin was finishing up his engineering degree at UT and I would frequently visit him on my weekends off. We would always have some sort of any-thing-can-happen weekend that always involved red bull vodkas, a $1 ride on the eBus to dirty 6th Street, and after-hours shenanigans. Austin was a free spirit and was always going with the flow of the adventure. One weekend during ACL weekend we went out and met some mutual friends of his that had an extra wristband. Austin had figured out a way to scan multiple people into the venue. Without a plan, we went on a whim and had one of the more memorable music festivals I’d been to.

After College, we were both headed back to Houston at the same time for work and decided to share an apartment in Houston. We continued to enjoy our weekends with more vodka red bull laden outings to bars like Red Door where we would leave soaked in sweat from too many fist bumps and Yeager bombs as a sarcastic salute to Jersey Shore Reality Show culture. We always found our way back to our apartment and would spend hours talking about philosophy and the existential meaning of life. Austin was a deep thinker who was constantly questioning his surroundings and was deeply curious about the world and how it worked. I will miss our stream of conscious conversations.

Austin was always up for a good adventure. One of the most memorable adventures was before we all went to college; Austin had gotten early admit into UT and had moved into his dorm room on campus and invited some friends to come to visit. Will Cooke and myself drove up with a few other friends in tow. Like a bunch of naive high school kids, we tried to get into a few fraternity parties and were rejected because we looked like high school kids out of place decked out with Hollister polos. After getting forcefully rejected we went back to Austin’s dorm and had a small get-together. We drank Grey Goose and Patron straight out of water bottles and being novice drinkers had too good of a time. Experiencing my first hangover the next day, I awoke to find my phone dead so I walked out to my car to get my phone charger to find the word “TOW” sprayed on my car. We had been ill-advised to park in a church parking lot (it was Sunday morning...) I looked around and saw a tow truck actively towing cars off the Church parking lot. I was able to move my car, but we spent the morning miserably tracking down Will’s car from the impound and had what felt like the longest car ride back home to Houston with a pounding headache. I think I slept for an entire day after that. Although at the time it didn’t seem very funny, it was always something we joked about constantly for years after.

I met Austin when we were clueless freshman engineering students at UT. He was always ready to drop a bad pun at any time, especially when we were studying. His humor and laugh could always light everyone up, even as we turned into young professionals. I will remember Austin as in this photo: smiling until our cheeks hurt 

This photo was from my 19th birthday celebration when we were students together at the University of Texas. Austin always made me feel welcome when he was around. He was an amazing musician and could play any song on his keyboard after hearing it only once! He was always so kind to my maltipoo Lucy and never complained when she would sneak off to bother him in his bedroom while he studied. Austin was a wonderful friend who will be sorely missed. 

Had a lot of fond and fun memories of him when we were in Orchestra. This was from our first “orchestra reunion.”

Austin was a dear friend in college. We met while still living in dorms that were across the street from each other. I will always remember how many laughs we had with each other, and the excitement he would get when we would try new foods together. I had so many amazing experiences with him and I'm glad to have had him in my life. Austin will greatly be missed. I wish all his family and friends well during this period.

Dear Austin,

We made so many memories together since our days at Amazon and over time you became one of the greatest friends I could ever ask for. You are always so happy and cheerful and I love spending time with you. You'll always be in my thoughts, and I hope you will continue to be surrounded by love. 💖

Stephen Trinh

Austin,

I am absolutely heartbroken to hear the news of your passing. I am also hopeful you are finally at peace. From lacrosse to starting our college days, there are a a lot of great memories I will hold onto dearly. Rest In Peace my friend. 

-Will Cooke 

OBITUARY

Austin Chen

November 22, 1989 – October 31, 2022

Memorial Oaks Funeral Home & Cemetery

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