He became a leader in Maine’s trucking industry, growing a Scarborough-based business into an operation with 48 trucks and a focus on safety that earned the company a prestigious award.
He also earned a reputation for being kind, both in his personal and professional life.
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John W. Austin of Saco died Friday at Maine Medical Center in Portland after a brief illness. Mr. Austin, who was 52, leaves behind a wife and two children.
Mr. Austin was president of PAF Transportation, formerly known as Portland Air Freight, a trucking company he purchased in the early 1990s. He moved his company from Portland to Scarborough a few years ago.
“It’s a tremendous loss for everyone,” said his friend and professional colleague, Brian Parke, president of the Maine Motor Transport Association in Augusta. Parke said Mr. Austin dedicated most of his professional life to working behind the scenes in support of Maine’s trucking industry.
He was former chairman of the transport association’s board of directors, served as chairman of its executive committee, and served on the political action and budget committees. He also was on the board of trustees for the association’s Workers Compensation Trust.
“He really wanted to see the trucking industry improve,” Parke said.
Mr. Austin was very supportive of the association’s trucking scholarship program. It would not be unusual for him to hand-deliver a $1,000 scholarship to a deserving high school student, Parke said.
Another passion of Mr. Austin: He “made it clear that safety was the most important thing in our industry,” Parke said.
Two years ago, a panel of impartial judges, including state troopers and officials from the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles, gave PAF Transportation its Grand Champion Fleet Safety Award.
Parke said PAF Transportation currently operates 48 trucks and employs 87 drivers, delivering goods by air and by land all over New England.
In his personal life, his acts of generosity were stunning and he sought no recognition for them, said his wife, Beth Reeves Austin.
Mr. Austin once gave $100 to a stranger who was standing in line in front of him at a pharmacy. The man told the pharmacist his home had been destroyed in a fire and he did not have enough money to buy medication for his son.
“That’s just the way he was, very kind-hearted,” his wife said.
Mrs. Austin said her brother died when he was 16 years old and was buried in Bangor. When her husband learned that her parents, who lived on Long Island in Casco Bay, wanted to be buried with their son, Mr. Austin drove a truck to Bangor, paid to have the boy’s remains exhumed and then transported his body to Long Island, where he paid for another burial.
He also oversaw the care of his sister, who was being treated for breast cancer, driving her to all of her appointments.
“He took care of everyone,” his wife said. “He was amazing.”
At Portland Air Freight, Mr. Austin was proud of his employees, regarding many of them as his closest friends, his wife said.
“They all thought he was a great guy, very personable and down to earth. But he never wanted any recognition for himself,” she said.
Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:
dhoey@pressherald.com
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