James Rudy Austin departed this life on May 5, 2024. He was born in Bluefield, West Virginia, sharing a birthday with his mother and his great aunt. He is survived by his beloved wife and life partner, Betty; his children, James Andrew Austin, Edward Scott Austin, and Bethany Campbell Austin Murphy; his grandchildren, Campbell, Austin, James, and Holden; his daughters-in-law, Rebecca and Eunice; son-in-law, Jason; his brother, Lane (and his wife, Peggy, and their children, Brandon (Krystin), Clay, and Chase); and his sister, Vera Lee. Also surviving are his nieces, Amanda (Andy), Anna (Nathan), and Julie-Lynn (Mike) (daughters of his brother, William Elliott Austin). Also surviving are his sister-in-law, Shirley Smoot, and her children, Todd (Tami) and Beth, and his brother-in-law, Alfred Whitt (Dottie).
He was predeceased by his parents, James Olin Austin and Vera Elizabeth Cox Austin, and his brother, William Elliott Austin (Julie).
Rudy attended the University of Virginia for his Bachelor of Arts (with distinction and Phi Beta Kappa) and his law degree. Upon graduation from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1967, he joined the Roanoke law firm of Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore (now Gentry Locke) where he practiced from that time until his retirement in 2017. He helped the firm grow from the seven lawyers when he joined to the firm’s status now as one of the largest and most prestigious law firms in the Commonwealth. He was mentored at the firm by his senior partners, John H. Locke, Richard C. Rakes, S.D. Roberts Moore, and William R. Rakes.
During his years of practice, Rudy served on the Boards and as presiding officer of several statewide and civic organizations, including the Virginia Committee of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board, the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys, and the Virginia Student Aid Foundation.
In addition to the statewide organizations, Rudy served as President of the Roanoke Bar Association in 1986-87. He also served locally on the Boards of Mental Health Services of the Roanoke Valley, the Council of Community Services, and the United Way of the Roanoke Valley. Rudy considered his highest professional honors to be his induction as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1993, his receipt of the VADA Excellence in Civil Litigation award in 1995, his receipt of the Roanoke Bar Association’s Frank W. “Bo” Rogers, Jr., Lifetime Achievement Award, and his induction into the inaugural class of the Virginia Lawyers Hall of Fame in 2018.
He was a member of Westhampton Christian Church and in his younger years served in many leadership positions, including Sunday school teacher, elder, and Chairman of the Official Board. Rudy strove to live his life by the precepts of the following stanza from William Cullen Bryant’s poem, “Thanatopsis”:
So live, that when thy summons comes to join / The innumerable caravan, that moves / To that mysterious realm, where each shall take / His chamber in the silent halls of death, / Thou go not like the quarry-slave at night, / Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed / By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, / Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch / About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.
The family will hold a private memorial service and burial at Bethany Community Church in Austinville, Virginia.
In lieu of flowers, donations are encouraged in Rudy’s honor, with checks payable to Bethany Community Church at 1222 Lead Mines Road, Austinville, Virginia 24312.
Services are entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Southern Pines.
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