Friends, neighbors and city leaders packed the Sons of Norway Hall in Poulsbo on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 8, to remember Bill Austin, the English-born sign painter, builder and volunteer whose handiwork shaped the look of downtown Poulsbo for more than five decades.
Austin died Sept. 29 at age 91 from burns suffered Sept. 24 while welding Christmas garlands for Front Street. The lodge marquee outside read simply: “Bill Austin Memorial, 4-7 PM Nov 8, All Welcome.”
Inside, guests moved past photo boards titled “Where did time go?”, scrapbooks and newspaper clippings, a vintage portrait of Austin in a tuxedo and a table of honors, including his Kitsap Community Foundation volunteer award and the Poulsbo Chamber of Commerce’s first Lifetime Achievement Award, presented in 2013 and inscribed “Vision, Commitment, and Hard Work.” A slideshow played on a big screen, a computer station played recordings of Austin telling his own stories, and a memory box collected notes for his family. Small touches pointed to his roots and his work: a red British telephone box, a copy of the book Poulsbo Bill: The Public Art of Bill Austin and a painted rock reading “Billsbo.”
Speakers took the microphone through the afternoon. Former Poulsbo Mayor Becky Erickson credited Austin with a vision “of our better selves, of who we were as a people, of what we could give to one another, of what things were beautiful and kind and friendly, and what Poulsbo should be.”
“That didn’t mean he didn’t get mad and get angry and frustrated, but he never gave up about the vision of Poulsbo,” Erickson said. “And for that, I am going to deeply miss him.”
The crowd laughed as Erickson recalled Austin building a tree house in a city park without a permit and starting cemetery work before anyone knew where the money came from. “Bill never asked permission, but sometimes he asked for forgiveness, and that was okay,” she said.
Jan Ryan, Austin’s widow, described him as “very project motivated” and said he “always had another idea, always decided that what he’d already done needed to be better or different or a different color.” Ryan said the newly formed Bill Austin Foundation will work to keep his murals, signs and other public works in good condition, take on projects that were still on his list, and support young artists “so we can keep that hand-painted skill alive in Poulsbo.”
Others shared stories from decades of friendship, including a stormy boat crossing in Scotland to get Austin home in time for a meeting in Poulsbo. A bagpiper also played.
Born in England in 1935, Austin moved to Poulsbo in 1971. His work includes the Austin-Kvelstad Pavilion, the Oyster Plant Park nautilus, the waterfalls at both ends of Front Street, restorations of the Nelson Park farmhouse and Martinson Cabin, and many of the hand-painted signs and murals that give downtown its Scandinavian character.
Donations in his memory can be made to the Bill Austin Foundation at billaustinfoundation.org. Read more about the foundation’s plans.
Photos and video courtesy of Kevin Sheen. Tap any photo to see it full size.
Leave a Reply