Austin Belschner

It is with very heavy hearts that we announce the passing of beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother and “Doc” Austin Peter Belschner of Fennville, Michigan, who passed away peacefully on April 14th, 2025 at the age of 77. Austin was a light to all who knew and loved him, lending sage advice, a steady and compassionate hand or an uplifting bit of humor to friends, family, colleagues and clients in need.

Austin’s character was formed at a young age in the Boy Scouts, where he worked hard to become an Eagle Scout. He graduated from Edina High School (1965) and furthered his education at Colgate University (1969), where he met his life partner and best friend, Nancy Anderson. They were married in 1970 and moved back to Minnesota, where Austin attended The University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine (1979) to earn his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree. He served his country in the Vietnam War from 1970--73 as a naval air intelligence officer on the USS Constellation.

He practiced veterinary medicine in Cumberland, Wisconsin for 11 years and then went on to become a bovine reproductive health expert in Kalamazoo, Michigan at UpJohn, Pharmacia & UpJohn and ultimately Pfizer Animal Health. He was a Director in charge of Pfizer’s technical service veterinarians for dairy herd management. He spoke all over the world and was well respected for his accomplishments in the field.

Austin was instrumental in helping to start the Timberland Hills Cross Country Ski Area in Cumberland. A lifelong lover of the outdoors, he was an avid fisherman and deer hunter. He happily spent thousands of hours catching fish in WI, MN, MI and FL and always had the rarest trophy whitetail on the cabin wall. Austin was also a passionate Vikings fan, who passed his love of the game all the way down to his grandsons.

Above all, Austin was an eternal optimist with the highest and most hopeful outlook on life, always full of cheer and never complaining despite his many health challenges over the years. He was the “best of us,” as Uncle Gar likes to say, and isn’t that the simple truth.

Austin is survived by his wife of 55 years, Nancy; his children, Garrett (wife Mari) and Kristen (husband Trent); his two beloved grandchildren Gavin and Luca, his brothers Gary (wife Rose) and Jay (wife Shelley) Belschner and his buddy Beau (golden retriever).

A celebration of Austin’s life will be announced in the future. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Many Point Scout Camp, Heritage Endowment Fund in Austin’s honor - https://www.manypoint.org/article/Heritage-Fund.