Austin Sardella left us far too soon on January 6, 2025, at the age of 38. Born in San Jose, California on June 24, 1986, Austin was a precocious, joyful, and caring child. He often entertained family and friends with hilarious imitations and improvisations of cartoons, television shows, and movies.

The inclination to perform and bring joy to others led to an impassioned pursuit of theatre in high school and college. Austin brought an exuberant enthusiasm to his performances, and built lifelong connections with his fellow thespians.

A high school varsity athlete in cross country and track, Austin always kept himself grounded by moving his feet. As a teenager, he won dozens of medals for his running talents. Later, he developed a passion for hiking, exploring the Northern California coast and hills one step at a time. Hiking gave Austin an opportunity to connect with his past, as he frequented trails in the Santa Cruz area, near UC Santa Cruz where he earned a BA in Literature in 2010.

Throughout his life, Austin was a man of culture and style. He maintained avid interests in music, cinema, literature, current events, and in the activities of his family. He had a wry sense of humor and a keen ear for the absurd, always ready and able to amuse with surprising quips and entertaining bon mots. Austin carried an emotional enlightenment that allowed him to laugh with The Simpsons, grow his heart with The Beatles, and cry with Love Actually.

Austin was an extremely gifted writer whose work included numerous newspaper features as well as short stories, poetry and a stage play. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of many subjects. In recent years Austin had been cultivating an interest in photography, taking stunning photographs and videos of wildlife and nature, and creating often surprising juxtapositions between nature and human structures.

His warmth, humor, and unique intellect touched many lives, including those of his colleagues at Visa, Inc., where he worked as a Technical Solutions Manager. He was valued for his knowledge and strong work ethic--always performing well beyond his core duties--as well as for being supportive, collaborative, positive, and an all-around nice guy. He will be deeply missed.

Austin's greatest joy in this world was his daughter, Sophia, and he relished his time with her. They created adventures out of ordinary activities such as trips to the donut shop or carving up pineapples for a fruit salad. Austin and Sophia shared a love for animals and nature, as well as literature, theatre, and video games. Austin was immensely proud of his daughter and was fully committed to helping her find and pursue her passions in life.

Austin also took great pride in his role as a big brother to Jesse Sammel, who was 19 years his junior and less than two years older than Sophia. Among other things, they connected over food, comedy, and music, and recently had been attending concerts together.

Austin is survived by his daughter, Sophia Sardella, his father, Alan Sardella, his mother, Susanne Sammel, step-father, Peter Sammel, and his brother, Jesse Sammel. He also had numerous cousins, aunts and uncles who adored him. We all loved him so very much and he will remain in our hearts.

A public memorial service will be held at St Timothy's Episcopal Church in Mountain View, CA on March 15, 2025 at 4:00 pm.

In recognition of Austin and Sophia's shared love of animals, donations may be made in his honor to the Humane Society , the ASPCA or Puppy Pound Rescue . Contributions can be sent via their websites to support their common mission of rescuing and caring for animals in need.