Austin Edward Brooks Jr. died on May 11, 2025, at home, surrounded by his family.
He was born Aug. 10, 1938, in Fort Wayne, to Austin Edward Brooks Sr. and Gertrude (Wilson) Brooks. He graduated from Northside High School in 1957. When he arrived on the Wabash College campus in the fall of 1957, he had no idea he would return to Wabash to spend his entire academic career and Crawfordsville would become his home. After graduating from Wabash in 1961 he attended graduate school to study biology at Indiana University – Bloomington, earning a PhD in 1965. He married Eva Lucille (Lucy) Clark in 1963. After IU he accepted a post-doctoral fellowship to study at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where their first child, Timothy Austin, was born.
In the fall of 1966 they returned to Crawfordsville where Austin taught biology at Wabash for 38 years before retiring in 2004. During that time, their second child, Laura Beth, was born. While at Wabash, Austin pioneered many innovative teaching techniques including organizing with colleague and dear friend Bill Doemel the Wabash Aquatic Biology Program. For four summers this program provided 15 students the opportunity to spend six weeks in a different wilderness setting including Yellowstone, the Boundary Waters and Northern Wisconsin, the Florida Keys, and the Northeast Coast. He also developed a patented technique which allowed a blind student to feel microscopic images. Additionally, he eagerly supported the use of technology and computers as teaching tools and pursued research worldwide with sabbaticals and research trips to such diverse locations as Hamburg, Germany, Bangkok, Thailand, Johns Hopkins University and the Pacific Northwest.
After retirement Austin became involved in several community organizations including the Friends of Sugar Creek, the Youth Service Bureau, the Park Board, and served as both an elder and deacon for his church, the Wabash Avenue Presbyterian Church. In retirement he was able to pursue his many hobbies which included fly fishing with his buddy, David Hadley, wood carving, especially song birds, turning wooden bowls, travel and biking.
He is survived by his wife (Lucy) of 61 years; his two children, Tim (Kathy) and Laura (Brian); four grandchildren, Lizzie (Josh), Delaney, Jenna and Nathan; and two great-grandchildren, Jazmyn and Dekan.
He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother; a sister; and a great-granddaughter.
A celebration of his life will be held at a later time. Donations in his memory can be made to Wabash College, The Friends of Sugar Creek or the Youth Service Bureau.
“Dear Old Wabash, thy loyal sons shall ever love thee . . .” Aus most certainly did!
