AUSTIN -- Members of Austin's homeless community are mourning one of their most tireless advocates.
The Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed late Friday that Pastor Duane Severance died from injuries sustained in a single-vehicle crash on U.S. 183 outside of Seward Junction on Thursday.
For hundreds of members of Austin’s homeless community, Severance was best know for turning an overpass on I-35 at Seventh intro a bridge to their future, providing meals, music, prayer and worship services as part of Church Under the Bridge.
“I can only say good things about him, because he helped so many people,” said Burnett Malone. “He helped me a couple of times. You go down there on Sundays and eat. He was just excellent. And everyone (knows) that down in this area."
As dozens of people waited for warmth outside Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, many told of the impact Severance had on their lives.
Church Under the Bridge met only two blocks from ARCH -- the center of Austin’s Homeless Community.
“He was a man of God, first and foremost,” said homeless advocate Richard Troxell, who worked with Severance helping Austin’s homeless for more than 20 years.
“He filled a void in their spiritual lives, so they flocked to him. When they came he provided them with spiritual nurturing, which is different than anything else. He made them smile when their whole world seemed to be crashing around them,” Troxell said.
Severance is survived by a wife and children. Investigators say he may have been speeding when he took a curve too fast and ran off the road.
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