John Henry Austin

John Henry Austin was born on June 3, 1936, in New Rochelle, New York. He was the third child of the late John and the late Margaret Downs Austin. He went home to be with the Lord Jesus Christ on March 1, 2025, at Cooper Ridge Nursing and Assisted Living Center in Eldersburg, Maryland. John graduated from New Rochelle High School in 1953 and was proud to be the first-generation college educated in his family. He attended the State University of New York at Oswego for a year and then completed his bachelor's degree at New York University as a technical arts major in 1958. He began his career in special education, teaching children with disabilities shortly afterwards. Over his career, he taught in several institutions in the New York City Public Schools and the greater New York area. As a young man of humble beginnings himself, John was passionate about pouring back into the lives of disenfranchised youth in his community and sphere of influence. He mentored several young men at the Remington Boys Club of New Rochelle. As a lifelong advocate for education, he furthered his studies with a master's degree in special education from Fordham University, New York City in 1969. On August 29, 1959, John married the love of his life, Gloria Springsteen, "the milkman's daughter." From their union, he was blessed with four children, John David, Steven, Ronald, and Valarie. John was determined to make sure that his children would have a quality college education like himself, so he worked especially hard for his family. After teaching in school during the day, he would supplement his salary working in the evenings as a typesetting entrepreneur. He created beautiful programs, journals, and tickets with his typewriter and cutting and pasting pictures, almost a few decades before any modern-day word processing. He retired from the New York City Public Schools (Jacobi Hospital Adolescent Day Treatment Program) in 1991, after 32 years of service. John was a finisher and encouraged his children to do their best and finish as well. He and Gloria were married for 64 years. John enjoyed writing poetry, and listening to and playing different types of music, which included everything from gospel to classical. During his younger years, he played several instruments including the fife, bugle, and guitar. He was a member of the Charles W. Dickerson Fife, Drum, and Bugle Corps in his hometown of New Rochelle, and he also had the opportunity to play his guitar with a small musical group at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. John loved to travel within the United States and after retiring, he established the J & J Travel Group which traveled to different states by bus. John was a man of faith and loved the Lord. He was a long-time member of the Union Baptist Church in Rochelle, New York. While attending, he was very active and involved in many ministries, including superintendent and assistant superintendent of Sunday school, adult Sunday school teacher, Cornelia D. Coleman Scholarship Committee, Men's Chorus, Senior Choir and was a church trustee. In the early 2000s, he joined St. Catherine AME Zion Church with his wife, Gloria. While attending, he sang in the Adult Choir and faithfully attended Sunday school. As passed on by his mother, the last Margaret Downs Austin, John believed that "with God, all things are possible." John will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved him. He is survived by his sons, Steven (Avis) and Ronald; daughter, Valarie Austin; granddaughter, Sarah (Anthony) Sumter; grandson. Michael Austin; great-grandsons, Maverick and Lennox Sumter; great-granddaughter, Zoe Sumter; and a host of other family members and friends. John was preceded in death by his wife, Gloria; his sisters, Margaret Lybrand and Mary Williams; and his firstborn son, John David.

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John Henry Austin

June 3, 1936 - March 1, 2025