We are blessed to have Austin Wooldridge, born April 29, 2003, in Corinth, Mississippi, here with his family, parents Marshall and Elizabeth Knochenmuss Wooldridge, and younger brother Tucker Wooldridge, presently living in Decatur. His father is a co- owner of the In and Out Shop, an auto body shop located on Highway 15 of Decatur, while his mother works at the Fast Pace Clinic in Newton. Austin began playing trumpet in Hernando before they moved to Webster County in north Mississippi, where he graduated from East Webster High School in 2021. His older brother Hunter, married to Mary Lynn Wolfe, is pastor of West McComb Baptist Church, and his younger brother Tucker is in the tenth grade at Newton County Academy, where he enjoys cross country, tennis and trapping raccoons with his brother Austin.
Austin attended Holmes Community College on a music scholarship for three years, graduating with 64 hours and an Associates degree in Conservation Law. He then decided to take on one more year at Holmes to study automotive engine repair. Next he finished work at the Mississippi Conservation Officer Training Academy (MCOTA); the Police Academy, (MLEOTA,) or MS Law Enforcement Officer Training Academy; and he completed four months of field training. October 17, 2024, was a special day, as he graduated from MCOTA at Roosevelt State Park in Scott County. Austin is now one of two game wardens in Newton County. The other is Justin Blackburn, a senior law enforcement officer.
Austin met his fiancee Katie Grace Jones from McAdams at Holmes Community College. She was born in 2004 to Randy and Michelle Jones. Her father is a civil engineer and her mother works at the Attala County Baptist Association. Her sister is Samantha Jones, and her brother Jeffrey Jones is married to Lexy Lucas from Mathiston. Katie Grace attended McAdams Baptist Church with her family and graduated from French Camp Academy. Austin and Katie Grace met in the Baptist Student Union at HCC where she earned her A.A. in Secondary Education. She expects to graduate Mississippi State University December 2026 after she and Austin are married June 13, 2026, and she plans to teach English.
Austin told me of his upbringing in Hernando, MS, as his Christian parents took the family to Longview Point Baptist Church. He prefaced his testimony by saying, “I believe you can’t come to God unless God draws you. I was nine and he was preaching the same thing I’d always heard, but the Holy Spirit got ahold of me and saved me. He moved on me and drew me to God.” He and his family now attend Clarke-Venable Baptist Church in Decatur.
Austin’s summer of 2023 was spent in Nepal with a group sent by the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. He shared, “It gave me so much insight about the need for the gospel in other countries.” On this trip, the young missionaries hiked mountainous miles to share the Gospel, in groups of at least two. In the first house they visited, a couple readily accepted Christ. The Hindu in the second warned, “Leave or we’ll kill you.” Many were saved in the next village, and in another village a man shared his Christian testimony. He had hated Christians, yet was sick. A believer came to pray for him and he was healed.
Praise God for what He has done and is doing even today, with revival breaking out all over the world!
People get ready! Jesus is coming soon!
You may contact me at lagnesrussell@gmail.com or 601-635-3282.
