Austin F. Shira

Austin F. Shira, Jr, 92 of Cottonwood and Rimrock for 40+ years, passed away on January 26, 2017. He was born on July 23, 1924 in Sioux City, IA to Austin F. Shira Sr and Pearl C. Shira. Austin served his country as Major in the Marines Marine Air Corp during World War II and Korea. Austin was a Commercial Airline Pilot for 35 years and retired with Republic Airlines in 1982. He was proud of his military service and was a longtime member of the American Legion many years with the Camp Verde post and most recently with Cottonwood post. His lifelong passion was flying and he loved being a pilot. He loved geology, history, military aircraft and was an avid woodworker. Austin is survived by his wife of 36 years, Joann P. Shira of Kent, Washington; son Jack L Shira of Scottsdale, AZ; stepsons Brian McKiernan and Scott McKiernan of the Seattle area and many nieces, nephews and other extended family members. A memorial service will be held at Cottonwood Village, 201 E Mingus Avenue in Cottonwood on Thursday, February 2, 2017 at 1:00pm. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson\u0027s Research. By phone: 1-800-708-7644 Mail: Donation Processing, The Michael J. Fox Foundation, P.O. Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5014 or by email: https://www.michaeljfox.org/get-involved