Austin Markel

Austin Lee Markel was 44 years old, and was a resident of Mandan, North Dakota his entire life. On January 20th, 2025, Austin unexpectedly passed away peacefully in his sleep in the house he has lived in for many years. The cause of death is unknown at this time, but is suspected to be natural causes.

A memorial service will be held 10:30 AM Saturday, January 25th at First Lutheran Church in Mandan with Pastor Stephanie Lorenz officiating. Burial will follow in the Mandan Union Cemetery. A luncheon will be served in the lower level of the church following the services.

Visitation will be held from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM Friday at Weigel Funeral Home in Mandan.

Austin was born in Bismarck, North Dakota on the 15th of June in 1980 to his parents Laura and Pete Markel. He grew up in Mandan with his older sister Shannon, they lived somewhat close to the Mandan High School, and eventually Austin moved close to Ft. Lincoln Elementary School with his then wife and their children, where he remained living. Throughout his childhood he played baseball and basketball, which is something his kids would also participate in when they were growing up. He attended and graduated from Mandan High School in 1998. He attended some college at NDSCS, but did not graduate as he always said college was not for him. Austin, however, had a stellar talent for math, and often awed his kids and everyone around him with how quickly he could do problems in his head, and not easy ones either. He could figure out percentages so quickly on any numbers and so many other problems where he almost never needed a calculator. 

He was currently working at Auto Value in Mandan as the store manager. His coworkers spoke very highly of him, and he was very respected at every job for his excellent work ethic and people skills. Through his exceptional drive in the workplace, he was able to be a great leader and a great manager in every work environment no matter what. From being a stellar car salesman, to working at Home Depot until the store in Bismarck closed, then going on to Lowes and working his way up to manager there, switching it up to a pet store manager, and then ultimately going back to working with cars at Auto Value. Austin would work his way up the ladder at work and would get promoted to higher positions until he started getting hired as store manager. He never missed a day at work and was known for never being sick. He was always punctual and prided himself on that fact. He loved being organized, so much so that if something was slightly moved, he would notice immediately and put it back in the correct orientation and spot. His kids had a fun time moving his things on purpose just to mess with him and see how long it would take him to notice, and they always had a great laugh about it.

Austin had an interest in fitness as he had his own workout area in his house. When the weather was nice, he liked to go on walks, runs, and bike rides, always enjoying when his kids would join him for a walk. Every Sunday during football season, his son Zane would go over to his house and they would watch the games together. He always made it a point to keep every car he had clean like it was brand new, he would always say something to his kids if their car was a little dirty, and he’d make a joke about it. 

He would be disappointed if the Packers did not win a game and was disappointed if any team he disliked, like the Cowboys, won a game. 

One of Austin’s favorite actors was Adam Sandler. If you watched an older Adam Sandler movie with him ( i.e. Billy Madison), he could quote almost the entire movie before any line was said. He could say it in the perfect voice to match the movie. He enjoyed so many different comedy movies and had such a vast knowledge of them. If someone would say an obscure line from a movie he liked, he would be able to finish the line and the next part without any hesitation. He enjoyed many hours sitting with his children and laughing at The Simpsons and Married with Children and many more shows that he loved watching, even ones that he might not have liked right away but did start to like through watching with the kids.

Austin is survived by his three kids, Zane, Odessa, and Olivia; his mother Laura; his father Pete; his sister Shannon and her son Braxton; as well as his many cousins, aunts, and uncles. 

As many fathers’ do, he denied wanting a pet until Odessa brought her cat, Akaashi there and they became the best of friends, and he spoiled that cat so much. Akaashi would sit on his lap on the couch, and they would hangout and watch TV together. 

He was preceded in death by his grandparents Anton and Mary Schantz, John and Grace Markel, and his aunts Nancy Miller and Laurie Bender 

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Austins family, care of Weigel Funeral Home. 

Thank you to the wonderful staff at Weigel Funeral Home, Hirsch Floral, and the members at First Lutheran Church for making this all happen and be beautiful. Thank you to his coworkers at Auto Value for checking on him and being concerned when he did not show up to work. 

Austin was an amazing father, son, brother, and uncle. He will always be adored and deeply loved by everybody in his life. He always knew what to say to make you laugh, he was always joking around with everyone, he had the most contagious laugh, and he had the greatest sense of humor. He loved and supported his kids anyway he could in everything they did. He was so proud of where they were all going in life and what they were accomplishing. He will be dearly missed by all, he will live on through all those that know and love him, and he will never be forgotten.