This week, The Happy Hour is sharing a unique story, one that we thought everyone should be familiar with. It started around Christmas, the most magical time of year. Happy Day hosted their annual company Christmas party in 1984, and the maintenance guy had just been fired. Not necessarily the best opening to any old story, but for Happy Day, for this story, it was. Gifts were exchanged amongst employees, faces beamed and the room was radiating joy to every corner. And then, a Christmas miracle came along that was much better than anything wrapped in paper adorned with trees and tied up with a bow. It was Stan Austin.
Stan was born in Idaho Falls in 1941. He was born to an evangelical father that practiced as a minister. While holding service at a church in Bend, Oregon, he became acquainted with Stan’s mother. They had 4 children together and moved around frequently, which they didn’t mind too much. In twelve years, Stan shared that he went to five different states and fourteen different schools, ultimately graduating from Lewiston High School. During one year of school, he was bucked off a horse and broke his leg. He was in a cast from his neck to his ankle, and he still to this day has a steel rod in his leg. The break resulted in losing a semester of school, and with it, the chance to walk at graduation alongside his class. He finished that last semester anyways, while working. This resilience and dedication would become key attributes that follow Stan throughout his life.
Before changing the course of Happy Day, Stan lived a very full life. He is very much a jack of all trades, and a friend to everyone he meets. While spending a good portion of his younger years as a contractor, he built 380 houses across Montana, a lot of them for the Crow Tribe and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. His relationship with these tribes didn’t stop at just construction, either. Him and his wife, Bonita (Bonnie), fostered over a hundred kids in thirteen years from the area. Each child became a part of their family forever. They also hosted foreign exchange students, building worldwide relationships that, in some cases, continue today. Stan also pastored a church in Montana for thirteen years. He recalled their home there, the eight bedrooms and all of the friends and family he was gracious to host. He speaks of everyone fondly, recalling full names and, often, occupations and family members as well. “I’ve enjoyed every bit of it,” shared Stan. “I haven’t been perfect, I’ve made mistakes off and on, but the good Lords been with me and keeping me going all this time. I’ll never forget anything that’s happened.”
Outside of his work in Montana, he built plants and a handful of churches in Wyoming, worked on a mine in Colorado, and even did the electrical on buildings he helped construct. He was building motors by age 8, driving tractors by age 10, and had his license by 14. He can proficiently weld, and had all his own tools, most he still has to this day. “I’ve got tools most people have never heard of” Stan commented. No matter where life and The Lord led him, Stan followed and learned everything he could, and helped everyone he came across, a unique set of traits that we could only admire.
Stan married his late wife, Bonita, in 1962. Bonnie enjoyed being active in the ministry her entire life, a value that her and Stan share. The pair had four wonderful children; Nathan, Stanley, Dale, and Stephen. They were great students and have grown into wonderful people. Stan shared how much he loves them all and spoke about them with unmistakable pride. He still keeps up with them, and one of his sons and his brother are flying in from across the country for his birthday later this week.
This just about brings us to the last 42 years. Stan had heard about the job at Happy Day through Roma Borders, a name that is still fondly spoken around the company. He shared his qualifications with Bruce, and Bruce told him to come in on Monday morning. Stan showed up at 6 am and Bruce put him to work. For some time, Stan was the only maintenance member, largely due to the fact that there were only 6 restaurants at the time. He drove his own truck to do repairs for the first few years, and he didn’t mind. Bruce’s late father, Charles Finch, had a small truck of his own. After his passing, Bruce gave the truck to Stan, and they replaced the bed with the bed of a retired railroad truck. The truck carried the memory of Charles, as well as helped the company move forward, a fitting tribute. Regardless of what he drove, Stan was always known to have everything for anything. “It didn’t matter what was broken, he’d have the part.” Said Tobe Finch. “And even more amazing, he could find it in his truck.”
Stan has done an unbelievable amount for Happy Day, and everyone who has the pleasure of knowing him is grateful. Pat Rogers shared, ‘Stan is a big deal. For almost 42 years, he’s been that guy that you can call for anything. He is such a big part of the beginning, and he’s always been a good man.” Once the company started hiring more employees, Stan became the head of maintenance. We asked him how he managed them. He said, “I never managed anyone, we worked side by side.” But his fingerprints are on nearly everything Happy Day has become. Every booth was upholstered by his hands. Decades of quiet, unglamorous repairs that have kept the company running, and relationships that still hold some places together. Stan was even present when Tobe went to buy his first house, he gave a home inspection of his own, ultimately helping secure a well-built home that would last decades.
This week, Stan Austin turned 85. Forty-two Christmases have come and gone since the job opened up and a good man walked in to fill it. His family is flying out to be here for it, the same way Stan has always showed up for Happy Day, morning after morning, for over four decades. On any given day, you can find Stan in the maintenance department, fixing something, and just as often, passing on a bit more than just a trade to whoever’s working alongside him. How to stay humble and kind, how to help without being asked. We cannot say enough how blessed and grateful we have been and still are for Stan’s service to Happy Day. Stan concluded by saying, “I’ve enjoyed every bit of it, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” And we couldn’t agree more.
Thank you, Stan, from the bottom of our hearts, for everything that you’ve done and continue to do. You are extremely valued and loved among Happy Day and the community. Happy Birthday, we wish nothing but the best for your 85th year.
