Like father (Gerry Austin), like son (Rick Austin), like grandson (Luke Austin)

Gerry Austin — From Kelso, Gerry Austin, who died at age 70 in 1994, was a quarterback at Kelso High and for the University of Washington during the 1942, 1943, 1946 and 1947 seasons. His career as a Husky included being the UW’s quarterback and punter in the 1944 Rose Bowl football game. A member of the Washington State Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame, he coached football at Clover Park from 1949 to 1961, then coached for six years at Lakes. He compiled a 118-53-8 record at Clover Park and Lakes with his Warriors and Lancers football teams winning four Puget Sound League championships. He became the Clover Park School District athletic director in 1975 and retired in 1981. His wife/Rick’s mother, Lillian Austin, died in 2006. Like her husband, she was a Kelso High grad. Prior to retiring in 1986, she was an elementary school secretary for more 20 years in the Clover Park School District.

Rick Austin — The son of Gerry and Lillian Austin, he was born in 1946 in Seattle and lives in Kansas City, Mo., where he is financial adviser working with business and estate owners for Austin & Associates, a firm he owns with his son, Luke Austin. He was an outstanding pitcher for Coach Ron Storaasli’s Lakes baseball teams. Selected by the Cleveland Indians in the first round of the 1968 Major League Baseball draft, he pitched for the Indians in 1970 and 1971 and the Milwaukee Brewers in 1975 and 1976. He was with Japan’s Hankyu Braves in the 1974 season. While Rick loves baseball, he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, Gerry, and be a college quarterback. But, there was more interest in him from colleges for his baseball talents, so he pitched for Coach Bobo Brayton at Washington State University. Rick takes satisfaction that his son, Luke, was a college quarterback at Washington University in St. Louis.

Luke Austin — the son of Rick and Verna Austin, he was a three sport-star at Brookfield, Mo., High School. One of two athletes at Brookfield, a four-year school, to ever earn 12 varsity letters, he lettered in football, basketball and golf. He was a quarterback for the Washington University (in St. Louis) Bears football for two seasons before an injury ended his football career. A finance/management graduate of Washington University, he earned a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business. He works for and is an owner of Austin & Associates.

This story is a part of ‘Story behind Lakes burnt orange and royal blue colors’ posted June 1, 2010 here:
http://coachgerryaustin-cp-lakes.blogspot.com/2010/06/story-behind-lakes-burnt-orange-and.html

It also ran June 1, 2010, in the Suburban Times of Lakewood, Wash., and on pages 4-5 in the Spring 2016 edition of the Prairie Gazette, publication of the Lakewood Historical Society.