AUSTIN

Orvis Enola Bonner Austin of Austin, Texas, passed into our Heavenly Father’s arms at her home on November 5, 2016, after a brief illness. She was surrounded and embraced in prayer by her loving family as she peacefully slipped the bonds of this life.

Orvis was born on July 17, 1926, in the rural Cass County community of Gethsemane near Naples, Texas, to Leroy Clarence Bonner and Julia Coleen Black Bonner. Orvis’ father was a school principal and her mother was a mathematics teacher. Leroy and Julia would go away for the summers to further their education at Prairie View College. Sometimes Orvis would go with them and attend nursery school at the college. Other times, her parents would leave their daughter to play with her cousins, ride mules and learn farm chores with her maternal grandparents, Benjamin J. Black & Della Byrd Black and her paternal grandparents, Rev. Walter Champ Bonner & Alberta Ferguson Bonner.

Even at a young age, Orvis enjoyed attending church with her family. Her parents and grandparents would host in their homes traveling missionaries and revivalists who were visiting the community. Orvis professed her hope in Christ at the age of nine, and was baptized in August 1935 by the Spring Hill Baptist Church in Bryans Mill, Texas, where her grandparents, Ben & Della, were leaders in the church. Mrs. Austin became a church leader in her own right during 20 years of fellowship with the New Hope Baptist Church in Daingerfield, Texas, and 48 years of service with the Ebenezer (Third) Baptist Church in Austin, Texas.

Orvis’ childhood education began at the Arkadelphia School where her mother and father worked near New Boston in Bowie County, Texas. The unexpected death of Leroy in 1934 was a devastating blow to the young family. Eventually, Orvis’ mother, Julia remarried to Mr. Andrew C. Wilson and moved to Morris County, Texas. Orvis attended G.W. Carver High School near Daingerfield, Texas, where she graduated salutatorian of her class in May 1943. She continued her quest for learning at Bishop College in Marshall, Texas, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Studies in 1947. Mrs. Austin pursued additional graduate level studies at Bishop College, Wiley College and Prairie View College, earning her Masters of Education degree from Prairie View in 1964. But Orvis’ hunger for learning never ended, as she continued additional studies at SMU and the University of Texas at Austin, acquiring certifications in Reading, Arts & Crafts and Library Science.

Orvis married her high school sweetheart, Samuel Morrison Austin, Jr., on Christmas Eve 1946. Sam had just returned from a three-year tour of duty with the Navy in the Pacific Theater during World War II. To this union was born one son, Samuel Morrison Austin, III, in February 1961. Mr. and Mrs. Austin enjoyed a loving, learning, supportive, fun and committed marriage for more than 43 years, until Sam died in May 1989.

Mrs. Austin worked as an elementary school teacher at the J.J. Rhoads School in Daingerfield, Texas, from 1947 until 1966. Her husband was a history teacher in the adjacent high school on the same campus. In addition to their classroom responsibilities, Orvis and Sam poured their energy into training students who participated in sports, cheerleading, drill team and UIL spelling competitions. To this day, first grade and third grade students she taught in the early years of her career still send their love to their former teacher via phone calls and written correspondence.

Sam and Orvis moved to Austin, Texas, in October 1966, when Sam was invited to become a key staff member for the Economic Development Administration, a new agency that President Johnson created within the U.S. Department of Commerce to help generate jobs and stimulate commercial growth in both urban and rural communities that were economically distressed. Orvis was immediately employed by the Austin Independent School District (AISD), where she continued her career in education. Orvis was an exemplary educator over her 39 years of teaching in Daingerfield and Austin. In AISD, she taught Head Start at L.L. Campbell Elementary School for one year before being reassigned to help start the desegregation process within the City of Austin as a third grade teacher at Travis Heights Elementary School. As the only African-American teacher on campus (along with her son, who was one of only three African-American students), Mrs. Austin was overjoyed with the warm welcome and acceptance she received from the faculty, parents and community. This was due in large part to the extraordinary leadership of the principal of Travis Heights at that time, Bernice Kiker. Miss Kiker was later honored by AISD , which named a new school in her memory. Mrs. Austin completed her career as a third grade teacher at St. Elmo Elementary School, retiring in June 1986. Orvis was honored for her commitment to excellence in teaching when AISD selected her as one of 10 finalists for Teacher of the Year in 1976.

Mrs. Austin was a tireless civic leader. She was a faithful member of the Ebenezer (Third) Baptist Church, where she served as a Deaconess. Over the years, she served in many leadership roles, including Director of Discipleship Training, Chair of the Board of Directors for the Ebenezer Child Development Center and Chair of the Church Condolence Committee. Orvis was elected President of the Capital City Chapter of Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc. (TLOD), as well as TLOD Area One Director. Mrs. Austin was a devoted member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She also held Lifetime Memberships in the NAACP and the National Council of Negro Women. In addition to her national leadership, Mrs. Austin was proud to serve locally as President of the Stone Gate Neighborhood Association.

Orvis enjoyed gardening, travelling, texting her grandson and doing graphic design of cards from her computer to share her love with family and friends. Mrs. Austin is survived by her son, Samuel Austin, III, her daughter-in-law, Marcia Petit Austin, and her beloved grandson, Samuel Austin, IV, all of Moraga, CA; her brother Burnard Charles Wilson of Little Rock, AR; her special first cousins Johnnie B. Black, James Black, Bobbie Nell Black Haynes, Burnice Black, Jr., Shirley Black Baker Shields; her treasured nieces and nephews Janice, Retha, Andrea, Shundra, Bobby, Barbara, Burnett and Retha K.; her grandnieces and grandnephews; her sisters-in-law Mary Pritchett and Carolyn Smith; her special “chosen daughters”, Wardaleen F. Belvin and Barbara F. Wilson; her Ebenezer (Third) Baptist Church family; sorors of Delta Sigma Theta; sisters of Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc.; and a host of extended family, supportive friends and former students.

Visitation will be on Sunday, November 20, at 3 p.m. at Cook-Walden Funeral Home at 6100 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin, Texas 78752. The Service of Praise and Thanksgiving for her life will be held on Monday, November 21, at Ebenezer (Third) Baptist Church at 1010 E. 10th Street, Austin, Texas 78702. Interment will follow at Evergreen Cemetery in Austin.’