From tragedy to a life time tribute: Austin Owens Memorial Gymnasium
From tragedy to a life time tribute, Pastor JD Weido of First Bible Baptist Church, plans to build a gymnasium in honor of Austin Owens. “I met Austin Owens when he was about eight to nine years old,” Weido said. “He been through some traumatic events through his life, so, they brought him here to see about enrolling him in our Christian school. So, we were able to accept him, and Austin was troubled as a little boy, but he just needed help. Over a period of time, we were able to make a difference in his life.”
Weido said, “He never did receive Christ as his savior, and Austin’s grand mother had died, his mom was incarcerated, and he had a lot of things going on in the home front. Well, his uncle Jimmy adopted him, and as a result of that, Jimmy kept him in church, and told Austin to make an inform decision when the time comes.”
He said, “At our back to school revival at the age of 14, Austin walked down the isle and accepted Christ as his personal savior.” Weido mentioned Austin’s social life a long with his growth. “He played on our basketball team, and he wasn’t a basketball player, he was just having fun with his friends and all that,” he said. “My two grandsons were best friends with Austin, and they all hung out together. Because of that, I was around Austin a lot, he would be at my grandsons house while I was eating, and he was very polite with his manners, and he had grown a lot, from a boy to a young man. It took a little while for him to adapt to the school here and everything, but, once he settled in, and learned the perimeters of the rules, he was fine after that. Then, he began to grow as an individual… the character traits, and manners, you can see the change. But, after he accepted the Lord as his savior, he changed even more, it was awesome to see the difference in Austin’s life.” Weido said, “He loved life, had fun, and Austin had a good personality — he was a lot of fun to be around.” “As far as the accident, Austin had gone to basketball practice, and he forgot his school shoes,” he said. “He was out on the bypass here, and they came back to get his shoes, headed back home after basketball practice, and then, there was the car accident. We believe he may had hit his head on the dash or the windshield, but, they took him to El Dorado hospital, and I was there with Austin, and prayed with him —but, he was unresponsive. Then, they airlifted him to The Children’s Hospital, and he passed away to be home with the Lord.” Weido held items as a memorial to Austin.
“We have his jersey, the flag that was flown there, hand prints, shoes, and all these things were apart of Austin’s passing,” he said. “Austin was an organ donor, so, his life was used to help other people live, and his funereal service was tremendous.”
“As far as the gymnasium, Austin’s uncle Jimmy had it on his heart to build a gymnasium in Austin’s memory, that would be used to help boys and girls in future generations,” Weido said. “Jimmy passed away in a car wreck as well, and so, in my heart, I just keep hearing Jimmy say, “Brother JD, I’m going to help you raise the funds.” He said, “We’re just trying to get the word out to the community, and, it’s going to be a debt free project. We want to use the gymnasium to help more boys and girls just like how we helped Austin.” Carla Smith, Austin’s cousin said,”Austin was a great kid, and the change in him was amazing.”