In 1972, Roger Kay Beasley opened a Mazda dealership on Burnet Road with three employees, beginning a business that would grow across Central Texas. Beasley, the Austin automobile dealer and philanthropist who remained closely tied to Mazda and the University of Texas for decades, died at his Austin home on August 28, 2026. He was 87.

Born on November 13, 1938, Beasley earned a business administration degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1961. He began his working life in consumer finance and moved into mortgage banking before automobiles became his profession. That turn placed him near the beginning of Mazda's American story: his first store was among the manufacturer's early U.S. dealerships.

The modest Burnet Road operation became the Roger Beasley Auto Group. Over four decades, it expanded to 13 franchises and 11 dealerships with more than 600 employees, according to the Austin American-Statesman. The growth was substantial, but the longest thread in Beasley's career was his commitment to one comparatively young import brand. The Mazda name remained central to his Austin business from its first year onward.

By 2013, Beasley owned three Mazda dealerships in Austin. Automotive News reported that all three ranked among Mazda's leading U.S. stores in sales, customer loyalty, service retention, and customer satisfaction. Together, they had made the brand a conspicuous part of Austin's automobile market. The group's Mazda dealerships continued operating in Austin and Georgetown at the time of his death.

Beasley's standing in the industry reached beyond his own showrooms. Ford Motor Company named him one of its top 100 dealers worldwide in 2001. He served as vice president of the Texas Automobile Dealers Association, joined advisory councils for several manufacturers, and sat on the board of JPMorgan Chase. Those roles placed the Austin dealer in conversations about the business far beyond Central Texas.

The University of Texas formed the other enduring institution in his life. He provided vehicles to UT Athletics and supported Longhorn programs for decades. Through Texas Exes, Beasley established a scholarship honoring his parents, Finn F. and Alma Beatrice Beasley. The scholarship supports entering undergraduates who graduated from Llano High School. It connected his alma mater with students from Llano.

In 2024, Beasley turned another family loss into support for students. The University of Texas at Austin documented his creation of an endowed undergraduate nursing scholarship in memory of his daughter, Tamra, a UT nursing graduate who had cared for patients in the Austin area for more than 25 years. The permanent fund provides scholarship support for future undergraduate nursing students.

His company's community work also placed automobiles in service of causes outside the showroom. Roger Beasley Mazda supplied a new vehicle each year for an Austin Humane Society raffle, allowing ticket revenue to go to the shelter's programs. Mazda USA reported that the partnership stretched across roughly 25 years and had generated close to $3 million by the time of its 21st annual car raffle.

Beasley's family notice listed running, skiing, horse racing, whitewater rafting, and fishing among the pursuits that filled his time away from business. His daughter Tamra died before him. He was survived by his wife, Karen Pospisil, four grandchildren, and two great-granddaughters.

What persists from Beasley's long pursuit is visible in working institutions: Mazda showrooms rooted in the company he began with three employees, scholarships carrying his parents' and daughter's names, vehicles supporting Longhorn athletics, and a yearly raffle that turned a new car into care for Austin animals. Together they map the reach of one Austin enterprise into education, sport, and community life.