Hundreds gathered at the Trotter Convention Center Saturday to pay final respects to late Municipal Court Judge Curtis H. Austin Sr.
The term “giant” was used several times by friends and peers to describe the former attorney, judge and politician. Fellow lawyers marveled at his lack of bias and intellect. His former pastor expressed humility and surprise he was asked to deliver Austin”s eulogy. And his son took it upon his shoulders to carry on his father”s legacy.
“I don”t know if there”s much more that could be said or done,” said Curtis Austin II. “I”ll live my life in a way that commemorates him and my family will do the same. Everything else is kind of material. How we live our lives hopefully is a positive reflection on him.”
During the funeral service, Curtis Austin II offered his reflections in a poetic letter addressed to his dad, promising to “grow into his shoes” using the “abundance of insight” Austin provided his family.
“Don”t worry about your obligations to your family. They”ve certainly been met,” Curtis Austin II told his father.
The junior Austin also noted his father”s barbecue skills, which is where the Rev. Kaylan Walker, presiding elder of the Monroe, La., District of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, remembered the elder Austin.
Walker was the new pastor at Stephens Chapel Baptist Church in Columbus and fresh out of seminary when he met the Austins. On one occasion he recalled visiting the Austins” home and finding Curtis Austin Sr. grilling out back in shorts, sandals and socks, an apron and a pipe in his mouth.
During that conversation he recalled the advice Austin offered.
“He told me everybody”s not going to be in your corner. But do your best to always be fair,” said Walker.
Austin”s devotion to justice would be touted time and again following Saturday”s service.
“He”s as fair and impartial a judge as I”ve ever come across,” said West Point City Judge Mark Cliett.
Columbus Police Chief Joseph St. John said Austin used his authority in drug court to create the greatest possible good.
“Even though he was in a position where a lot of people would see him as a punisher, he really cared about people. He saw enough cases that he realized some people didn”t need to be punished. They needed help and he knew the difference,” said St. John.
“He was an example of how to be good to one another,” said Curtis Austin II.
Austin”s devotion to public service carried beyond Columbus” city limits. A letter from Jackson State University Interim President Leslie McLemore called Austin “one of the most outstanding graduates JSU had ever produced” and stated “his work in Columbus has not gone unnoticed by his peers throughout the state.”
The city also recognized Austin with an official proclamation presented by Mayor Robert Smith to Austin”s wife of more than 30 years Qua Mattix Austin.
The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors and multiple city, county and law enforcement officials were also on hand for the service.
West Point Attorney Bennie Jones was a contemporary of Curtis Austin Sr.”s and a close friend. The two met in 1976 shortly after Austin completed law school in Washington D.C. and Jones at the University of Florida.
Jones said Austin”s keen intellect was immediately evident and his entire family was firm believers in education.
He recalled how Mississippi lawyers who did not graduate from the University of Mississippi School of Law were forced to take the state bar exam, while Ole Miss grads received a diploma privilege.
“(The bar) was passing probably 15 to 20 percent of people who took the exam. Judge Austin passed the first time,” Jones recounted.
The two would cross paths in numerous legal settings where Jones was representing a municipality or a school board and Austin was assigned as a hearing officer.
“I thought he did a fantastic job. He bent over backwards to be fair,” said Jones.
Jones visited Austin Sunday at the hospital in Birmingham, Ala. at the request of Austin”s wife.
“She called and asked if I would come to Birmingham to see him. He was pretty ill and depressed and she wanted me to speak some words of encouragement to him.
“I went Sunday and spoke with him from about noon to 1:30 p.m. I thought he was doing pretty good. He just said he was weak and didn”t have much appetite.
“I was planning on going back to see him this weekend and when I got a text from his wife saying he had passed away I was really shocked,” said Jones.
Curtis Austin II said the exact cause of his father”s death has not been determined.
Curtis Austin Sr. practiced as an attorney for about 30 years in Mississippi before becoming a Municipal Court judge in January 1994. He died Wednesday morning; he was 60.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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