With regret, we report the death of the Venerable George Austin, Archdeacon of York from 1988 to 1999, at his home in Hertfordshire at the age of 87.
Born in Bury, Lancashire, in 1931, George Bernard Austin was ordained in 1955 and studied for ordination at Lampeter.
He served curacies in Chorley (Blackburn), Notting Hill (London) and Dunstable (St Albans) before becoming Vicar of nearby Eaton Bray (St Albans) in 1964.
George married Bobbie, a teacher, who he met while in Dunstable, and they had a son, Jeremy.
George became Vicar of Bushey Heath (St Albans) in 1970 and while there was made a Canon of St Albans.
He succeeded the Ven Leslie Stanbridge as Archdeacon of York in 1988 and became a Canon and Prebendary of York.
On retirement in 1999 George became a member of St Luke's Church in York, and continued to minister with the Archbishop of York's Permission to Officiate until moving south as Bobbie's health began to fail in 2009.
Back in Bushey Heath and close to Jeremy and his young family, Bobbie died in 2016 and George moved into a care home for the last couple of years of his life.
He died early on the morning of the 30th January 2019.
May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
- George Austin's funeral will take place at 11.00am on Tuesday 19th February 2019 at St Peter's Church, Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire.