George E. Austin

George was born September 28, 1921 in Boston, Massachusetts and passed away peacefully in his home November 22, 2011 in Rolling Hills Estates, California, surrounded by his family. George worked in the Aerospace Industry as a Nuclear Physicist for 45 year and was well known for his ever steady support of his five tennis playing children, who collectively won more than 1, 000 titles and four of whom competed at Wimbledon. George was an avid club tennis player himself at the Jack Kramer Tennis Club.
After MIT and UCLA, he spent the first 20 years of his career in the U.S. Air Force from which he retired as Lieutenant Colonel. Early in his career he worked on developing radar as a meteorological tool and the specific radar that he had been assigned to explore its possibilities played a crucial role at the Anzio beachhead in early 1944. At the end of WWII, the US brought a number of top German scientists to the US under the so-called "Paperclip Project" and in 1948 four of them were assigned to report under George's direct supervision. George was later project chief for the development of the first nuclear power satellite. After his retirement from the Air Force he continued his work for TRW, including work on the design of a plutonium-powered implantable part assist pump for NIH, work on the MIRACLE program which entailed high energy lasers operating from satellites as a defense against hostile missile launches, and responsibility for the onboard soil testing laboratory on the Viking mission to Mars seeking latent life forms. After his retirement he took up photography and enjoyed working with computers, winning several awards for software development.
He was preceded in death by Jeanne Austin, the love of his life and wife of 65 years. George is survived by his five devoted children, Pam Austin, an original player on the Virginia Slims Tennis Tour, Jeff, who competed on the ATP Tour, Doug, who was the top player at Long Beach State, John, who won Wimbledon Mixed Doubles with his sister, Tracy Austin Holt who is a two time US Open Champion and former world number 1; ten grandchildren and a great-granddaughter; a sister, Harriet Comar, other relatives and friends. The Memorial Service for Mr. Austin will be Friday, December 23rd at 1:00 p.m. in the Green Hills Memorial Chapel in Ranch Palos Verdes. In lieu of flowers, it would be appreciated if donations were made to the National MS Society.


Funeral Home:
Green Hills Mortuary and Memorial Chapel
27501 S.Western Ave.
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
US 90275