Martin Charles Wukasch II was born in Austin, Texas on August 3, 1940 to Martin and Ruth (Faubion) Wukasch and died March 2, 2026 at home here in Austin under hospice care. He always went by his middle name but was also known to some as Charlie, Chuck, and even Uncle Chuckles to others. He was always ready with a corny joke or pun.
Charles began his education at Trinity Lutheran School in Austin, then at Concordia Lutheran High School, graduating from S.F. Austin High School in 1958. He was a triple graduate of the University of Texas at Austin earning his BA in 1963, his MA in 1964, and his PhD in 1974.
Charles taught at numerous stateside schools and universities throughout his career including Mississippi State University, The College of William and Mary, Texas A&M University, the University of Houston, the University of Texas at El Paso, the University of Texas at Austin, and the Defense Language Institute at Lackland AFB in San Antonio. He was fortunate to have been awarded three different Fulbright Scholarships (lectureships and a grant) that allowed him to teach at the University of Kiril and Metodij in Skopje (in the former Yugoslavia) and the University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland, where he met Beata, a student of his in the English Department who went on to become his wife. Charles also received a Fulbright grant to develop an ESOL program for Syrians working for the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, Syria. Other overseas teaching jobs were at the University of Prishtina (in the former Yugoslavia), Anatolia College in Thessaloniki, Greece, and Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan.
Upon completing his assignment in Syria, Charles and Beata returned to the United States and settled back in Austin where he began teaching English and English as a Second Language at Austin Community College. For several years, he held an appointment as the Evening Manager of the Eastridge Campus (which later became Eastview). His final teaching assignment at ACC was in 2018. During his tenure there, Charles served as a campus representative for both the ACC-AFT Teachers Union and the Adjunct Faculty Association. He also held several part-time positions at other institutions–Texas State University, Concordia Lutheran University, and San Antonio College.
Charles was incredibly proud of his Wendish heritage. He spent a semester studying in the Dept. of Wendish at the University of Leipzig in Germany in 1965 and attended several international summer courses offered by the Sorbian Institute in Bautzen, Germany in the 1980s and 90s. He published articles in scholarly journals and frequently presented papers at professional meetings on the language and folklore of the Texas Wends. Charles especially loved attending the annual Wendish Heritage Festival in Serbin, Texas every September.
He was an extremely generous individual always ready to treat others to a wonderful meal out or with a check for his great nieces and nephews and his chosen charities, especially the Central Texas SPCA in Leander. He never met a stray cat he didn’t immediately fall in love with and want to bring home . . . and many he did.
Charles was also a passionate traveler and shared this passion with his wife Beata with whom he took numerous trips to foreign countries trying to learn as much as possible about their culture and history. Charles loved to read and study foreign languages and could speak several. His favorite vacation time was on cruises. The last trip he had planned and longed to go on was Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth to England in April 2026. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make this trip.
Charles is survived by his wife of 40 years, (Beata); three siblings—Ken Wukasch (and his wife Janice) of Cedar Park, Jim Wukasch (and his wife Suzanne) of Burnet, and Jan Wukasch Pelosi and (her husband Rocco) of Austin.
A memorial service will be held on Thursday, April 16 at 10:00 am at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church located at 4800 Convict Hill Rd. in Austin. Memorial contributions in Charles’s name can be made to either the Texas Wendish Heritage Society at 1011 Co Rd 212, Giddings, TX 78942 or to the Central Texas SPCA at P.O. Box 98, Cedar Park, TX 78630.