Otha Austin started playing the piano at age 6 and was still playing at his church, King Baptist, until nearly the end of his life.
Austin, who died at 57, spent more than 22 years in the Air Force, was a mortician, composed and arranged songs and worked for the Colorado Department of Transportation.
“He was a go-getter,” said his wife, Shirley Austin.
Otha Austin died at his home of kidney cancer, which he had fought for more than two years.
Often called “Razz,” a nickname given to him as a child, Austin loved gospel and jazz. He sang and played the organ, piano and electronic keyboard.
He was a youth minister of music at Zion Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Kansas City, Mo.; sang in a men’s group, The Five Wonders; and was in the Voice of Exodus group at the University of Missouri.
“He was an extremely talented musician,” said a friend and fellow church member, Chauncey Davis of Denver.
Davis’ wife, Janet, called Austin “a quiet spirit.”
Chauncey Davis said Austin was a reliable friend, “always showing up when no one else did, when you least expected him.”
Family members said he was “precise” and as impeccable in his manners as in his dress.
“I called him ‘My Mr. GQ,’ ” said his wife.
Otha Lee Austin was born in Kansas City, Mo., on March 20, 1954.
After graduating from Central High School in Kansas City, Mo., he attended a music conservatory at the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
He earned an associate’s degree in applied science from the Community College of the Air Force at the former Lowry Air Force Base, a bachelor of science degree in business from the University of Phoenix and an associate’s degree of applied science-mortuary science from Arapahoe Community College.
He married Shirley Jean McKelvy on Sept. 1, 1973.
Before he retired from the military, he and his wife moved to Denver.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by his daughter, Teadra Austin Rose of Denver; two sons, Anthony Austin of Colorado Springs and Herschel Austin of Arlington, Texas; his mother, Frances Austin of Kansas City, Mo.; his father, Willie Wright of Kansas City, Mo.; and three grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son Rodney Austin, who was killed in an automobile accident in 1997.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
