Joseph William Austill, cont.

Joseph Austill was a person with a strong sense of duty; he was never heard to complain of his lot, but he worked long hours at difficult and demanding labor. During the years of the depression, it was difficult to be raising four children, and although he was never out of work, his work hours and days were cut back because of the economy, and of course his income was thus cut back, too. Until late in his workirig life, after World War II, he never had vacation time. Nowadays it seems hard to understand how men could work under these circumstances.

My father was well-loved by the men who worked for him, as well as by the neighbors and all who knew him. Many of his men were Mexicans; he learned their language and spoke it like a native. Some of the family "treasures" were given to him by the men: hand-molded decorative plates, one with a man and one with a woman standing in them, handpainted.

Sometimes in summer the crews worked on extra projects, living in bunk cars. In times of floods or of winter storms, often Dad had to go out in the night and get a crew to sweep switches clear or do whatever was necessary to keep trains runhing. These were often quite dangerous assignments.

Joe never rose above the position of section foreman. He had certainly the intelligence, and most likely the knowledge, but lack of education had placed him in this position. He earned the respect and good-regard of all his associates - his superiors as well as those working under him.

My father had a good sense of humor, and always the ability to laugh at himself. For instance, when he came home he was always dirty from the track work, but the dog would jump all over him. Dad always got a good laugh out of remembering the time my Aunt Emma Jewett said "No wonder Joe is always dirty, because he lets the dog jump on him!" He was a marvelous story teller, and his children had difficulty telling when he was serious and when he was just spinning a yarn. Juanita remembers listening while her father was telling some story with a completely serious face, while her mother stood behind him, shaking her head. It was the only way Juanita could tell fact from fiction!

In 1942, Joe was transferred to a section foreman job in Emporia, Kansas. At this time, only Robert was living at home. The family lived in Emporia until Joseph retired at age 65, and they moved to Eugene, Oregon, where their two daughters were living. I think that father enjoyed his retirement years. He was able to use his beloved shopsmith and to enjoy gardening. He could have made a career as a carpenter. His work with wood - as with anything - was most meticulous. He built for permanency! Even the most minor job was done with perfection. He seemed to be able to do anything. In Lawrence, he remodelled the kitchen, installing new cabinets and putting two windows in a formerly blank wall. He raised the roof of the garage and widened the building into a two-car structure. In earlier years, he had iron shoe forms, and used to repair our shoes, resoling if necessary. He and his two sons could do anything that needed to be done to a car. I believe they could have built a new automobile from scratch!

He was always gracious about sharing his abilities with anyone in need, and one of our favorite family jokes was about the elderly neighbor who wanted to have Joe's head examined because she didn't see how any one head could hold all those brains!

Joseph was a quiet man, content to sit back and let others be the center of attention, but when he spoke, others listened. Everyone who met him, liked him, and all had praise for his kindness, consideration, and his abilities. He was not perfect - no one is. He had some characteristics which were probably the result of lack of education. He had some strong prejudices, against people of other races and nationalities, although he got along very well with the men who worked for him. He seemed to have something of an inferiority complex, probably partly from his background of poverty and partly from the fact that he married a college educated woman. It is one of life's real sorrows that a good mind like his should not have received more training. He was particularly happy that his children were able to obtain good educations.