15 Facts About Ed Austin

Ed Austin served as mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1991 to 1995.

Ed Austin served as the first Public Defender for Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit from 1963 to 1968, and served as State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit from 1969 to 1972 and again from 1974 to 1991.

Ed Austin earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree while at Duke, and was employed as a teacher.

Ed Austin later joined the United States Army, where he served in the 101st Airborne Division as a paratrooper.

Ed Austin was hospitalized with a back injury; in the hospital he met his future wife, Patricia Lynch, an Army social worker.

Ed Austin received a juris doctor from the UF College of Law in 1958, and was admitted to the Florida Bar on November 6,1959.

Ed Austin worked in several legal positions, including a stint as Duval County's assistant solicitor.

Jacksonville Mayor Hans Tanzler appointed Austin to serve as the city's General Counsel in 1972, but he returned to the State Attorney position in 1974 and was re-elected four times.

In 1991 Ed Austin resigned his position as State Attorney to run against incumbent mayor Tommy Hazouri, and won the election narrowly and became Jacksonville's 4th mayor since consolidation.

Ed Austin oversaw the city's purchase and refurbishing of the St James Building, which would eventually become Jacksonville's new city hall.

Ed Austin's support was instrumental in the founding of the Jacksonville Children's Commission and growth of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.

Ed Austin was an imposing figure, a "strapping John Wayne-kind of guy", according to Delaney, who first worked for Ed Austin as an intern in the early 1980s.

Ed Austin's staff considered him a fair man with integrity and character who motivated his co-workers and mentored those he hired.

Ed Austin's wife of 39 years, Patricia, died in a car accident near St Augustine in 1996; he was a passenger and was injured, but recovered.

Ed Austin was recovering from heart surgery several weeks prior, but had not experienced complications.