06/12/2021
Obituary for Robert "Bob" Austin
Most people know Bob Austin – sort of. They know who you’re talking about if you refer to the “River Raft Guy.” Or they know him by sight as they see him hauling a trailer filled with rubber rafts, or more recently if they’ve seen him driving his converted school bus, the “River Rat Express.” Everybody knew him as “Captain Bob.”
Tall, tan, fit and disarmingly cheerful at all times, Bob exuded every bit of the confidence you would expect from an engineer who has invested his spare time on the wild rivers of America. He was born in Bristol, Connecticut and moved with his family to Redondo Beach, California (south of LA) where he learned to sail and surf and graduated from high school at Redondo Beach High. After high school, he married Karen Denise Stinson, and their children; Kay Reagan, Amanda Faith and Aragon Gregory. Then came six and a half years in the United States Army, that found him with tours in Italy and Korea and a degree in engineering from the University of Maryland. After the Army he went to work as a sub-contractor for Litton Industries in Grants Pass, Oregon where he developed a love for kayaking and rafting the white water of the Rogue River. He began his first rafting business there. He was in Grants Pass for eleven years, until Litton moved the bulk of their industries to Korea. The next twenty years found Bob in Alaska, in a small town outside of Fairbanks, ominously named “North Pole.” Although 1700 miles south of the actual North Pole, the town serves happily as the unofficial home of Santa Claus. While there, Bob worked electronics for Radio Fairbanks and continued doing what he was doing in Oregon. “I worked every community all around there. I worked every village on the Yukon River. Every town, no matter how big or small.” While there he honed his skills in kayaking and white-water rafting, leading groups every summer through the vast Denali National Park surrounding Mt. McKinley. Then, “Finally, all the kids were grown and moved out on their own – and it was time to go someplace warm.” He’s been with Vikki Nicholson, his significant other for twenty years. At the behest of his business partner in Alaska, Bob spent a year in Belize, setting up a rafting business there. It was especially tough. “But I started a rafting business for my partner, such as it was – and we began looking for a place to run the business we’re doing now.” “We researched it carefully and when we found T or C, we realized that it had everything we were looking for. Two lakes with a river between them – in the middle of the desert. You’re not going to find that anywhere else. What could be better? We LOVE it here. The community is so supportive. We just love it.” Bob believes in giving back to the community and holds free events for the boys’ and girls’ clubs and the big brothers and big sisters, as well as providing safety boats for triathlons. He is justifiably proud of his operation here. “I call this job “collecting smiles.” That’s what I do all day long – collect smiles.” “We’re not planning on going anywhere.” Then he looked out at the river in an uncharacteristic moment of observation and reflection. “We’ll die here.” Then he was back in classic Cap’n Bob mode. “And what a wonderful place to do it.” And his wish for us is to gather at our favorite water hole, whether it be a river, lake, stream or ocean on the 4th of July. Throw some bonfire ashes into the water and have a drink for me....
Locally a Celebration of Life Gathering at Rotary Park, 6:00 P.M., July 4, 2021.
