RE Log - Fall 2023

FALL 2023 Ransom Everglades LOG 75 In Loving Memory Austen Clyde Prescott ’23 left the body on August 3, 2023, after a courageous battle with DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma), an inoperable brain cancer for which there is no cure. Born at Miami Maternity Center on June 20, 2005, Austen was the middle child of Catherine Esposito Prescott (of Huntington Station, N.Y.) and Andrew Clyde Prescott (of Minneapolis, Minn.). Famously, Austen smiled in the midwife’s arms minutes after birth. Precocious and charming, Austen spoke in complete sentences before he could walk. He attended Temple Beth Shmuel preschool, South Pointe Elementary and North Beach Elementary on Miami Beach, and completed middle and high school at Ransom Everglades. Unable to attend his graduation on May 19, he was honored by his classmates, the faculty and the administration. (See page 29.) His teachers remarked on his intelligence and his humor, which was respectful and witty. It was often said that he was an old man in a young man’s body. Austen played club soccer for about a decade for Miami Shores and Miami Beach. A midfielder who was never the tallest nor the fastest person on the field, he was a smart and scrappy player who had an uncanny ability to steal the ball from bigger opponents and make the right pass up the field to a teammate in scoring position. As much as he loved the game, he loved the camaraderie even more. Austen was a party starter. As a child, he was the first one on the dance floor and the last one to leave it. With his quick wit, generous smile, sense of humor, and easygoing demeanor, he had a gift for putting people at ease. At home among people from every socioeconomic group, race, ethnicity and personality type, Austen curated a diverse group of friends. An astute judge of character, he invested heavily in his friendships. Apparently, he also had a knack for setting people up. REmembering Austen Austen Prescott ’23 brought smiles, joy and inspiration to all who knew him Among his other interests, Austen enjoyed mountain biking, camping, kayaking, hiking and gaming. Adventurous, he was passionate about travel and food. He relished everything from haute cuisine vegan to hole-in-the-wall sushi. Academically, he was drawn to literature, which he planned to study in college. He once told his mother he would be a poet if there was any money in it. (Spoiler alert, there isn’t.) Austen is survived by just about everyone he ever knew and loved: his parents, Catherine and Andrew, his brother, Connor ’21 , his sister, Celia ’28 , as well as three grandparents, eight aunts and uncles, six cousins, and a large and loving extended family of great aunts and uncles and second cousins, as well as his extraordinary friend group, former teammates, and scores of acquaintances. Throughout his illness, Austen felt empathy for kids younger than he who had to endure his diagnosis. In the ultimate act of paying it forward, Austen’s tumor was donated to research efforts at UM, and Austen’s family initiated a fund to support this research for a cure for the tumor that took his life. Find more information here: https://canefunder.miami.edu/campaigns/fy24-team-620