John Austin, 82, of Quanah, Texas and a long-time resident of Alto, New Mexico and Fort Worth, Texas died on Tuesday, August 18, 2026.

John was the son of W.H. and Yvonne Austin, born on May 8,1944 in Duke, Alabama. He graduated college from the University of Texas El Paso and after 4 years of service, he was honorably discharged from the United States Air Force in 1970 with the rank of Staff Sergeant. He took great pride in his military role focusing on high-frequency radio operation and repair in the Vietnam War. After his service in the Air Force, John had a brief stint in the workforce as an elementary school math teacher and eventually found his calling with Bell Helicopter as an engineer focusing on stress predictions…how long parts last, and when they might be expected to break down. One of his proudest achievements was landing a U.S. patent that was extensively utilized in the helicopter industry and is still in use today.

Anyone that knew John also knew that he had a passion for cars. Repair, racing, restoration, modification…any, and all of the above. He was an active car club member (The North Texas Austin Healey Club and Pine Top Car Club of Ruidoso) and developed several lasting, meaningful friendships as a result of those activities. John also partnered in business ventures called Austin Conversions as well as Design One Systems that offered car nuts like himself a kit to squeeze a Cadillac Northstar v-8 engine with an automatic transmission into a Pontiac Fiero. There was even a magazine article written highlighting this adventure. John was a loyal friend, a best man to some and mentor to many teaching them to weld, swap engines and transmissions and just about anything else you could imagine being done to a car. He enjoyed his time in any car whether driving with friends to appointments and sharing his wealth of information or on a car club cruise making a stop at Sonic.

John retired from Bell Helicopter and spent much of his retirement years working on car projects. So much so, that he built living quarters in two different airplane hangars so he could live in the very shop that he worked in around the clock. He eventually sold both and moved to Alto, New Mexico to reside in what locals referred to as “The Flying Nun House” but close friends called it the “Storm Trooper House.” He was always intrigued by great engineering and design.

John loved music and it may come as a surprise to many that he was a huge Bob Dylan fan as well as Taylor Hicks from American Idol! He was even a member of Taylor’s fan club, the “Soul Patrol.” He was so inspired by music that he even tried his hand at co-writing his own song!

John was diagnosed with Parkinsons in 2022 but never let it slow him down. He was determined to live life on his own terms. He was a “knower of stuff and fixer of things” and maintained a few car projects up until just before his move back to Texas to be closer to family. One of his favorite sayings when working on cars was “sacrifice your body, it will heal” as he always wanted the success of the car project to come first. Although John claimed to “not like sweets” he would devour just about anything sweet within arm’s reach! Several friends have also testified to his love of soft tacos! He was a self-proclaimed minimalist, but if you were to look in his garage, you might think otherwise. John had more tools than furniture!

John was preceded in death by his parents W.H. and Yvonne Austin of El Paso, Texas. He is survived by niece, Tami Osborne & husband Shane of Eldorado, Oklahoma, niece Stephani Austin of Austin, Texas, great niece Caitlyn Smith and husband Max of Altus, Oklahoma, great nephew Harris Osborne of Wichita Falls, Texas and brother Warren Austin of Eldorado, Oklahoma along with countless other friends that were as close as family.

John knew Jesus as his Lord and Savior, and we look forward to seeing him again in Paradise. Don’t be surprised if when we get there, he’s waiting for us with a Coke, a taco, and a story about a car!