William Lee 'Bill' Austin of Denton Texas passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by family and with the love of his friends on January 5, 2019. Bill never knew a stranger; he was well known for his quirky sense of humor. He often said one of his goals in life was to make at least one person a day smile or laugh, and he accomplished that many times over.

Bill was born on an eighty-acre farm to Ruth Ruby (Rapp) Austin and Charles Ezekiel Austin on November 15, 1933, in Ransom, Illinois. Juanita and Vaneta were his two older sisters and Ronald and Donald his younger twin brothers. He is preceded in death by his parents, his sister Juanita, and his partner of 21 years, Ann Johnson.

Bill graduated from Streator High School in 1951. He then joined the National Guard, trained at Camp Cooke, California, married his high school sweetheart, Rosemary Dougherty, at the base chapel, then shipped off to Korea. Surviving Korea, he enrolled in the DeVry Institute of Technology and began a long career in electronics that took him around the country, to the Arctic Circle and Europe. He developed and monitored a training program for the DEW Line system in Nome, Alaska. He led a team that installed cryptographic devices in War Rooms throughout Europe. He supervised the technical training component of the Job Corps education program in Edison, New Jersey, and retired at 55 from a career in microwave communications systems.

As his family and friends know well, Bill had many passions: dogs, airplanes, ATV's, and cars, trucks, SUV's, and RV's.

Bill lived in many places: Illinois, Alaska, New Jersey, Germany, New York, California, Arizona, and Texas. He also loved to travel: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Belize, most of Europe, and other countries.

Bill is survived by his son Mark Austin and companion Jody Doran, daughter Linda Austin, grandson Jay (Vanessa) Austin, great-grandson Justice Austin, and his siblings Vaneta (Dick) Moran, Ron (Mary) Austin, and Don Austin, as well as extended family members: Lowell and Karen Johnson and their children, Alexander and Christine; and John and Kim Haug and their children, Benjamin and Joshua. Bill was a well-loved friend and neighbor of the Greens of Oakmont community.

A Celebration of Life gathering in honor of Bill is scheduled from 5:00 – 7:00 pm on Tuesday, January 8, 2019, at the Oakmont Country Club in Corinth, Texas. Interment will occur in the Austin family plot of Warren Cemetery in Orchardville, Illinois.

In lieu of flowers the family has asked that donations be made to DFW Honor Flight http://www.honorflightdfw.org/donate