Laurel Ann (Sissy) Phillips Austin, chief lending officer, investment officer and member of the board of directors at Jacksonville-based Austin Bank and its parent company, Austin Bancorp Inc., passed away on August 29 after a courageous battle with Parkinson’s disease. She was 83.
Austin grew up in Jacksonville, graduated as valedictorian from the Jacksonville High School class of 1959 and went on to study mathematics, physics and computer science at the University of Oklahoma. Before graduating from OU, she visited NASA in Houston, where she noticed that one of the engineers was struggling with a mathematical problem. She asked for a pencil, quickly solved the equation, put the pencil down and smiled. This led to being recruited by NASA in 1963 as one of the first female aerospace engineers, and later at a private consulting firm, TRW Systems in Houston. Her team created orbit determinations, developing model equations and computer programming used in the Apollo projects to track missions. Austin worked on the space program for nine years before returning to Jacksonville.
Sissy married Jeff Austin Jr. in 1971. They cherished more than 53 years together with a focus on family, home, travel and community service. Jeff came to the marriage with three children: Jeff III, Mary Margaret and Carole Leigh. Each will eagerly attest that Sissy loved them as her own and mothered them with pride. She was blessed with the gift of six grandchildren.
From 1972 until her passing, Sissy Austin served as a member of the Austin Bank leadership team. She was chief lending officer, investment officer and a member of the board of directors of Austin Bank and Austin Bancorp Inc. She graduated from the SW Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University in 1977 and was a 2022 recipient of the Texas Bankers Association 50-Year Banker Award. Many honors were bestowed on Austin for her community service, including Jacksonville Citizen of the Year and Business & Professional Women’s Woman of the Year. She exemplified the spirit of community service as chair of Stephen F. Austin University; the first female president of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce; chair of Cherokee Country Club; chair of the board of trustees of First United Methodist Church of Jacksonville and chair of Trinity Mother Frances Hospital System, as well as numerous additional civic and nonprofit organizations.
According to her obituary, “Sissy was an approachable and sincere mentor to many. As a trailblazer for progress, she shared her knowledge with fellow bankers and advice seekers. A common phrase around the bank is, ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try doing it the way Sissy told you.’ These words will always ring true and many of us will continue asking ourselves, ‘What would Sissy do?’”
In honoring Austin, the family asks that you perform an unsolicited act of kindness for someone in need. In lieu of flowers, the family would be grateful for donations to The Hospice of East Texas (4111 University Blvd., Tyler, TX 75701) and the Jacksonville Education Foundation (P.O. Box 631, Jacksonville, TX 75766).
