Our county, state, and nation lost a true patriot and hero on July 31, 2021.  Austin Andrew Hill passed away peacefully at Hillside Nursing Home in Hemphill at the age of 99.  Austin is survived by Mary Alice Hill, his devoted and loving wife of 78 years who resides in the Alpine Marina area of Sabine County.

Austin was born on October 9, 2021 in Zion, Illinois.  On July 30, 1940, he enlisted in the U. S. Army to fight for his country at 19 years of age.  Austin saw extensive combat against the Japanese Empire in the jungles and mountains of New Guinea and on Luzon Island in the Philippines.  During one period, Austin's unit was involved in 112 straight days of combat.  Having suffered serious combat wounds, Austin received two Purple Hearts.  In addition, he was awarded two Bronze Stars for exceptional combat bravery.  The tribulations Austin endured during his service to his country were not limited to combat.  He also spend numerous months in a military field hospital with severe malaria, a disease that followed him home after his honorable discharge in September 1945 with the rank of Staff Sergeant.  The malaria Austin contracted while fighting in New Guinea kept him bedridden after he arrived back home as he struggled to recuperate.  With his wife, Mary, and her mother caring for him and constantly at his side, and after fighting his dreadful, debilitating disease for an entire year, Austin finally returned to health.

Shortly thereafter, Austin entered the then relatively new field of commercial heating and air conditioning.  As with his military service, Austin also excelled in business and eventually became a highly recognized, respected, and valued employee of Shambaugh & Son of Ft. Wayne, Indiana.  After a long and successful career, he retired in October 1991.

Austin loved fishing and shooting.  He was an avid skeet and trap shooter, and Austin and Mary supported shooting clubs generously, especially those with active youth programs.  The Hills were also generous supporters of children's health care organizations and institutions, Boy and Girl Scouts, and education programs, especially those providing technical/vocational training.  Austin and Mary resided in Sabine County for 21 years.

The following is the creed Austin strived to live by:  People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;  Forgive them anyway.  If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives:  Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some friends and some true enemies:  Succeed anyway.  If you are honest and frank, People may cheat you:  Be honest and frank anyway.  What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight:  Build anyway.  The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow:  Do good anyway.  Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough:  Give the world the best you've got anyway.  You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; it never was between you and them anyway.  Mother Teresa