Mr. Congeniality: Howard Austin takes pleasure in civic service

The first things most people notice about Howard Austin are his ear-to-ear smile and perennial optimism.

Those traits have served the lifelong Flathead Valley resident well, both in his work and his varied community service.

Austin has spent the past 12 years with Whitefish Credit Union, working as director of business development for much of that time. A big part of the job entails coordinating the credit union's payroll savings program used by more than 6,000 employees of 380 area businesses.

Public relations and education are other elements of Austin's work. He routinely conducts seminars in 13 area high schools from Whitefish to Noxon.

"I talk about money and credit, and give examples of good and bad uses of credit," he said.

Austin and Norm Kurtz, who does marketing work for Whitefish Credit Union, also make the rounds at area county fairs each summer to extol the benefits of the credit union.

"I enjoy that guy," Austin said of his cohort. "That's the PR portion of the job."

Public relations is something Austin knows a lot about. He's been to every major function in Whitefish over the past year as the reigning King Ullr of the Whitefish Winter Carnival. He relinquishes his title on Saturday when the next king, Ullr XLVI, is crowned.

He won notoriety last year for giving the longest coronation speech of any King Ullr, he recalled with a smile. His reign was nearly thwarted when the dreaded Winter Carnival yetis stole his crown and later pretended to destroy the prized headdress during the carnival parade.

Austin used the yetis' prank to drum up publicity for the carnival.

"Me and the yetis got into it. I threatened to expel them to North Dakota," he said. "I even called the governor of North Dakota."

The prank ended peacefully, with the crown returned in exchange for fast-food gift certificates.

The ever-congenial Austin seems to have fun with whatever he's doing to promote Whitefish.

"I get so involved in community activities, sometimes to my own detriment," he said with a laugh.

One of his latest projects involves creating interest in getting an official Winter Carnival float built to carry the carnival royal party, not only in the local parade, but also at regional events. He and other carnival committee members researched firms that make floats, found a Canadian business that could do the work and had sketches made of a potential Whitefish carnival float.

The catch, Austin said, is that it will cost $42,000.

"We believe there are people in town who could fund this privately," he said.

The carnival parade on Feb. 5 will be a good opportunity to showcase the float effort, he said. To that end, the committee plans to mount a picture of the proposed float on a red wagon, and attach fund-raising buckets to the wagon. Austin's eternal optimism focuses on the notion that where there's a will, there's a way.

Another of Austin's big service projects is coordinating the flag program for the Whitefish Kiwanis Club. Kiwanians set out roughly 320 flags around town on 11 national holidays.

"We have 11 routes, and one of those is mine," he said.

Austin is also heavily involved in the annual Winter Classic fund-raiser for children's medical needs.

He embraces community service with a work ethic honed during his childhood as a Creston farmboy.

"My dad was the last major farmer who used horses. Growing up I learned how to drive a team, rake and mow with horses," Austin said. "I have pictures of hand-shocked grain. That was one of my jobs."

After graduating from Flathead High School, Austin headed to Northern Montana University at Havre for two years, then transferred to the University of Montana in Missoula, where he earned a degree in business administration.

He came back to Kalispell for his first job at Conrad National Bank. When the bank eventually became First Interstate Bank, Austin stayed on and became head of the time-pay department. During the 1960s and early 70s Austin was executive vice president of the Bank of Columbia Falls, and left to set up his own mortgage company, Financial Services, in Kalispell.

"It ran me for another 10 years," he said.

Austin sold the mortgage company to a partner of Mann Mortgage and went to work for Whitefish Credit Union.

"I was hired at first to manage the office in Lake County, so I spent three years in Polson," he said.

He assesses retirement on a year-to-year basis, but so far, the love of his work has outweighed the love of his play.

"I thoroughly enjoy my job, and I still get up in the morning anxious to go to work," he said.

Austin isn't all work and no play, though.

He and wife Mary hike frequently during the summer months in Glacier National Park and use the winter months for cross-country skiing.

Austin used to compete regionally and nationally as a race-walker, until two knee replacements slowed him down a bit.

"I hate to say my times are really off," he said. "I enjoyed the competition, but I probably won't compete too much anymore."

Austin has four sons - Joel, who works for a contractor in Tacoma, Wash.; Hugh, with the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C.; Ralph, an employee of Pepsi Corp. in Portland; and Cliff, an adopted son who's disabled and under medical care in Great Falls.

Life is a "matter of attitude," he philosophized. At his job, Austin strives to live up to the credit union's catch-phrase, "We belong to you." And in his civic service, it's clear he belongs to Whitefish.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com