Thomas Heath Austin

Greensboro - Mr. Thomas Heath Austin, 81, died Sunday, December 13, 2015, at Brighton Gardens of Greensboro. Funeral services will be 2:00PM Saturday, December 19, 2015, in Deep Springs Baptist Church with Rev. James Phillips and Rev. Perry High officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. The family will greet friends prior to the service in the church fellowship hall beginning at 1:00PM. Heath was born in Anson County on September 24, 1934, a son of the late Thomas Vance and Ola Carpenter Austin. Heath was a veteran of the US Army having served during the Korean Conflict. Heath and his family lived in Marshville for many years where he operated a timber business. Later, he moved his family and business operations to the Whiteville-Elizabethtown area before moving to Greensboro to launch a very successful truck sales business that his son, Marty continues to operate today. Heath was an active member of Deep Springs Baptist Church for most of his life, where he sang bass in the church choir. Being from a family of singers, Heath was also an integral part in putting together a well-known gospel quartet appropriately called the 'Calvary Quartet,' who sang together for a number of years back in the 1970's and 1980's. Survivors include his wife of nearly 60 years, Aileen Williams Austin of the home; a son, Marty Austin and his wife, Lisa, of Greensboro; a daughter in law, Andrea D. Austin of Everett, WA; four grandchildren, Nathan Keith Austin, Lindsey Grace Austin, Ashlyn Nicole Austin and Lauren Elizabeth Austin; and two great-grandchildren, Oliver William Austin and Emerson James Austin. Also surviving is his brother, Herman Austin (Jackie) of Marshville. He was preceded in death by one son, Randy Heath Austin who died in 2012; a brother, Perry Austin; and a sister, Ella Ruth High.