Donald S. Auten

Dr. Donald S. Auten, age 98, passed away in Covina, CA on December 19, 2018. He was born on March 28, 2018 in Oak Park, IL on March 28, 1920 in Oak Park, IL to his parents Charles and Louise Auten. Donald was a resident of Covina, CA, and formerly of Banning, CA and Atascadero, CA.

He served in the United States Army as a Captain and later went to the University of Illinois and Medical School in Chicago. He was a Medical Doctor and Surgeon for 39 years.

Donald was a Christian and attended the Beaumont Presbyterian Church, Beaumont, CA. He was a wonderful father and gifted physician.

Donald was preceded in death in 2016 by his wife of 72 years Juanita J. Auten and granddaughter, Melissa Gale. He is survived by his son, Robert Auten; daughter Carol Auten Sadich; grandchildren, David Auten, Jeremy Auten, Joel Auten and Michele Sadich; great-grandchildren, Jonah Auten, Jack Auten and Evan Middlekauff/Auten, Delaney Auten; great-great grandchildren, Dominic and Madison Gonzales-(Sadich) Gale.

A Memorial will take place on January 11, 2019, 10:00a.m. at the Beaumont Presbyterian Church, 702 E. Euclid Ave, Beaumont, CA with a Graveside at 2:01 p.m. at Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Blvd, Riverside, CA.

Our Father

Our Dad, Donald S. Auten was born and grew up in Oak Park, Illinois. As a young boy he had very painful ear aches after a bout with meningitis. While waiting for the doctor to arrive to lance his ear drums, to give him some relief, he formed the intention to become a doctor himself in order to help others; and Dad never swerved from that ambition.  Although he was not raised in a church going family, he “accepted Christ” when he was twelve years old, during a summertime visit on his Aunt Alta’s farm in Canton Illinois. This blessed event took place at the Gospel Tabernacle, a ministry that was affiliated with the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. After this, Dad’s mother arranged to take him to a Presbyterian youth group in Oak Park, and when he was eighteen he was baptized into Christ at that church. Dad was an outstanding soccer player long before it became popular in the U.S. He often said that he could have gone to the Olympics had it not been for the war. Dad was always a straight A++ student. He put himself through college and medical school on a shoestring budget, with a  combination of scholarships, summertime jobs, and pay from the Army Student Training Program.

Dad married my mother, Juanita June (Hudnall) Auten, in 1943, My sister, Carol Jean Auten, was born in 1946. After graduating, Dad was sent to Korea as an M.D. to pay back his debt to Uncle Sam. He returned to Chicago in 1948, as a Captain, to complete his surgical residency, and I, Robert Charles Auten, was born in 1951. During the Christmas holidays of 1952, we moved west, to a much warmer climate in Covina, California. Dad was the only surgeon in the Magan Medical Clinic in Covina, until 1963. Dad swore that one weekend he drove over 200 miles going back and forth to the hospital, and we only lived 5 minutes away! Dad was a rock of strength and a pillar of success. He was an institution in the San Gabriel Valley for thirty years. Unfortunately, I never understood, until many years later, what really motivated Dad. It was that lifelong ambition to help others as the best physician he could be. He did all that he could to give us a wonderful life, although we always knew we had to share him with his patients. After he retired he found time to build up his faith life but medicine was the thing that he remembered best and really loved to talk about unto the end. Dad, your family and all your patients will always love you and miss you dearly.

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