Austin Bert Coller (1915 - 1952)

Born 16 Feb 1915 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Hannah Maye (Huff) Coller — married 10 Oct 1937 in Spanish Fork, Utah, Utah, United States

Died 23 Nov 1952 at age 37 in Chino, San Bernardino, California, United States

Biography

The son of Leon Coller and Edna (Allen) Coller, Austin was born in Detroit in 1915.^[1] His family soon moved west to California, where his father had aspirations of being a motion picture actor. They lived in Los Angeles, near Culver City.^[2] Austin married Hannah Maye Huff (1918-1977), the daughter of John Rufus Huff and Martha Ellen Larsen, marrying in Utah on October 6, 1937.^[3] At the time of their marriage, Austin was a police officer, a lieutenant with the Culver City Police Department. They later moved to Venice, California.^[4] They had three children together.^[5] They made their home in Los Angeles, California.^[6]

Austin later worked as a special investigator for the Richfield Oil Corporation and as an FBI agent. He also got his pilot's license. He was piloting a Beechcraft Bonanza, returning some hunters from a hunting trip, when the aircraft exploded and burned in a fiery crash in northern California, outside of Sutter City. Austin was killed in the crash,^[7] as were the passengers; he was 37 years old. His wife later filed a $101,138 lawsuit over the crash.

Research Notes

His mother was an actress and his father a costume designer; Austin was said to have been been one of the six wooden soldiers in the Laurel & Hardy film, March of the Wooden Soldiers, although he is not credited in the IMDB film credits. He is also said to have owned a gun shop in Culver City. His wife's obituary, printed in the Mount Pleasant [Utah] Pyramid, states that Maye Coller was buried in Culver City, California, and it's likely that Austin Coller is also buried there, most likely in Hillside Memorial Park, as neither Austin nor his wife were Catholic.

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZQ5-4DB : 2 February 2021), Austin Coller in entry for Leon B Coller, 1920.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCV4-Y1L : accessed 4 March 2021), Austin Coller in household of Leon B Coller, Los Angeles (Districts 0001-0250), Los Angeles, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 147, sheet 6A, line 37, family 65, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 138; FHL microfilm 2,339,873.
3. ↑ "Utah, County Marriages, 1887-1940", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRLR-KXP : 31 July 2017), Austin Bert Coller and Hannah Maye Huff, 1937.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9WP-SFX : 5 January 2021), Austen Coller, Venice Judicial Township, Los Angeles, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 19-796, sheet 21A, line 24, family 531, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 258.
5. ↑ "Utah, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church Census Records, 1914-1960", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:DN7S-7VZM : 8 February 2021), Austin Bert Coller, 1950.
6. ↑ "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church Census Records (Worldwide), 1914-1960", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:D2SD-KT3Z : 1 September 2022), Austin Bert Coller, 1950.
7. ↑ "California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPFN-L74 : 26 November 2014), Austin Bert Coller, 23 Nov 1952; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.