Lauren Nicole Augustin

Lauren was born September 09, 1983 in San Antonio, TX, and was a resident of Corpus Christi, TX when she tragically passed away on December 28, 2012. Lauren graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in 2001 and continued her education at Texas A&M in College Station. Lauren graduated in 2007 with a Masters in Ocean Engineering. Laurens employer has graciously contributed the following highlighting her professional career.

“Lauren Augustin joined HDR Engineering in February 2008 after graduating from Texas A&M University with a master’s degree in Ocean Engineering. At HDR she worked as a coastal engineer and quickly rose to the position of Project Manager on assignments for public and private clients. In December 2011 she earned her license as a Professional Engineer in Texas. Ms. Augustin’s engineering experience included a vast array of coastal work including wetlands restoration, beach nourishment, shoreline protection, dredging, construction administration, and design of scour countermeasures. An area of expertise was numerical modeling of coastal hydrodynamics such as waves, currents, and sediment transport in coastal areas across the United States.

Ms. Augustin had a particular passion for working along the Texas Gulf Coast and helped lead a number of prominent restoration projects, including some of the largest salt marsh restoration projects ever constructed in Texas and emergency nourishment of beaches in Galveston following Hurricane Ike. She played a key role in implementation of the wetlands restoration project in Nueces Bay that can be seen from the SH181 causeway between Corpus Christi and Nueces Bay. She also participated in research with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that supported construction of the highly-successful Packery Channel inlet and jetties in Corpus Christi.

Ms. Augustin was active and well respected in her field, frequently presenting at national conferences and publishing technical papers. Within HDR, she selflessly participated as a member of the Corpus Christi office’s Safety Committee, HDR’s national Pathfinders committee, and led the local Pathfinders program to help recognize other employees for outstanding performance. She had a passion for protecting and improving the coast, strongly believed in teamwork for succeeding in tasks at all levels, and always made an extra effort to show appreciation to her coworkers.”

In the words of Laurens friend, Stephanie “Lauren was a caring friend, daughter and fiancé’. She enjoyed art and cared immensely about nature, specifically our oceans. She fulfilled a childhood dream of working and living at the beach with her fiancé’ and many pets. She loved to paint, listen to music and be near the water. She lived in Corpus Christi, but visited her home town of San Antonio as much as she could and traveled often for her job as a coastal engineer.

Lauren accomplished more in her 29 years than most do in a lifetime while lighting up many lives in the process. Was it her wry smile and quick wit? Was it her no nonsense approach to life’s challenges? Lauren had a calm, caring and gentle strength of purpose in all things she undertook. Her love of the world and all things in it shined through and won the hearts of many.

Lauren is survived by her father: Adrian Augustin, mother: Cynthia Augustin-Arneson, stepfather: Mark Arneson, fiancé: Dan Michael Watson, Jr. of Corpus Christi, her grandparents: Theodore and Marjorie Dziedzic, her many aunts, uncles and cousins, especially Casey. Lauren was truly the bright light in our lives and now that light will be replaced with memories. May God and his angels watch over Lauren in heaven and love Lauren as much as Lauren was loved on earth.

A Service of Remembrance will be held Saturday, January 12, 2013 at 1:00pm at Sunset North Funeral Home.