Hey Martin, I hope after four years you still bother to listen to us from up there.  45 years after I first shared an office with you at TRW on MX missile, I am still following in your wake.  You will always be remembered by folks like me as one of the best Cold War era engineers.  And your record is still intact - I never beat you in a running race (and I was pretty good).  God bless you Martin.

- Arthur Cookson

Great engineer, great guy, and great runner.  I will always respect and remember Martin.  We worked together closely for the last 24 years of his career from the time I was a college hire in 1980.  To my exasperation, I never could quite beat him in a 10K race, though we were evenly matched.  He was my original mentor in rocket science, and my first introduction to a proud alumnus of Purdue University (I'm a thoroughly  west coast guy educated in California), so because of people like Martin, I have a lot of respect for Big 10 engineers.  I miss you Martin, and I want all his surviving family members to know what an excellent reputation he had in life.  God be with you Martin Austgen.

Arthur Cookson, Consulting engineer, Northrop Grumman

Gone but never forgotten! I can't believe it's been a year. I sure do miss our calls Uncle Marty. 

I am truly going to miss my Uncle Marty! He was an awesome Uncle and always gave me good, solid advice. He used to come visit me in Florida every year at Christmas time until he got ill. We had many good times and laughs that I will always cherish. My fondest memories of him are when he would come visit my parents  Pete and Karlene) at Christmas time and always had candy and gum to share!!! 

I am sorry to hear of cousin Marty's death.  I remember many summers at the lake when he would tease us "little girls" and pretend to be exasperated by us. He was in between a slue of older siblings and cousins and another slue of younger ones, but he always managed this with equanimity. I am forever grateful to Marty for teaching me to fish and helping me land my first 4 inch bluegill! 

Rest easy, cousin. See you up there. 

Kathy Downs Foster

Marty was four years older, and always teased me as a child,so I am not surprised his humour has endured over the years.  We talked  a lot  over the  last couple of months, and I FELT like we got to know each other all over again. I really was NICE 

When I was young, my sisters and I eagerly awaited Uncle Marty's visit each summer.  He brought us boxes of See's candy, and he was always up for a swim at Twin Lakes.  When I was a teenager, we often went for runs together at Twin Lakes or in South Bend. We had a great time running the Festival 5 road race on a hot July 4th. Many a summer evening was spent in conversation or a competitive game of Trivial Pursuit on the cottage porch.  Unsurprisingly, Uncle Marty was a tough Trivial Pursuit player. 

It is so nice to read comments from those who knew my uncle in a professional context. He will be missed. 


I worked with Martin and Arthur Cookson on ICBM targeting at TRW back in the early 1980s. 

My most vivid experience with Martin was when he was tasked to do some testing on our then-new Peacekeeper software. Martin's testing wreaked complete havoc, and our software pretty much came unglued. He found a lot of holes in the software, and we had to work pretty hard to repair the wreckage.

Martin was a very professional and thorough engineer, and I learned a lot from him.

To Suzanne Hanley.....Sincere sympathy on the loss of your brother.
                                                 May he Rest In Peace.


Martin was such a great person with one of the best personalities! He always made me laugh. I’ll always remember him while listening to Celine Dion and 80s hits music. He will be missed! 

Martin was a kind gentleman and a generous mentor dedicated to the national defense programs he worked on.  I benefited very much for knowing him.
Rest in peace.

Although I haven't seen Martin in over 30 years, he has had a recent impact on my life, and I feel honored to have known him.   I'm sorry I didn't know we spent so many years close by in CT after our time in CA.  I will always fondly remember the time we proved Art wrong :)
My sincere thoughts are with his family and friends as we remember Martin.
Karen

Back in 1980 when I was a new college hire at TRW, Martin was my first office mate and mentor.  We shared a window office in building R3 (try getting a window office these days unless you're a VP).  He was proud of his almamater Purdue and me of mine (UC Santa Barbara).  Couldn't be more opposite, and yet we became instant buddies and he was a perfect mentor for me.  Later we became really good running friends and raced together.  I worked most of my life on the same programs as Martin until he retired in 2004.  He was a quiet and soft spoken engineer, but he never hesitated to speak his mind, but always in a mild manner.  The customer always respected and listened closely to whatever he had to say.  Martin was one of the giants of ICBM Targeting.  I will remember him in my Targeting hall of fame (yes, I'm the official keeper of that list).  God bless you Martin.

OBITUARY

Martin Austgen

October 6, 1941 – January 16, 2021

Swan Funeral Home

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