On Friday, November 15, Austin Regier, a young man from Burien, passed away in a diving accident in the Philippines. Thatcher Kelley (Austin’s friend) offers his heartfelt remembrance of Austin, as a man living his life to the fullest, relentless in his faith, and a friend to all.
I probably don’t need to tell you who Austin Regier is. You probably already know him. He’s the kind of person that befriended everyone. If you don’t know Austin, it’s probably because Burien loaned out this gem of a man in recent years to Madison, Wisconsin, and Barcelona, Spain, where he proceeded to make friends with everyone he met there.
Austin passed away in a diving accident on Friday, November 15, in Coron, Philippines. He was living life to the fullest, making friends, sharing the good news of Jesus, and in his spare time, riding his bike and free diving in Lake Barracuda.
A lot has been said about Austin. His intense athleticism, determination, and passion for life are very real qualities. These qualities served him well as a National Champion rower for UW and a cyclor in this fall’s America’s Cup sailing competition in Spain. Those of us from the Highline area would know him as the beast of a man, usually wearing very little, painted in red, white, and blue, leading the charge down the Normandy Park Fun Run every Fourth of July.
But beyond the headlines, Austin was a man known by all to be a dedicated friend and lover of people. His passion for people made his care for sports look microscopic. He was a loyal friend, willing to go deeper and push friends towards goodness. “Stranger” wasn’t a word in his vocabulary. From the soccer fields of Orange Walk, Belize as a youngster, to the basketball courts in remote Philippine villages mere weeks ago, Austin loved everyone he came into contact with and found what they loved and chose to love it, too.
I could stop here. Austin, the athlete. Austin, the friend. But these were mere expressions of his true love for his Savior, Jesus Christ. Austin wasn’t a good man who happened to love Jesus. He was a good man because he loved Jesus. In the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddell, an Olympic runner says of God, “He made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure.” For Austin, athletics weren’t a point of self-pride. They were simply an outlet for the passions that God gave him.
As for his relationships, his rich love for family, friends, and “strangers” was an outpouring of the love that was given to him by his Heavenly Father. He was relentless in his faith, leading and encouraging others wherever he went. In every city he lived, he joined a local church and mentored young believers. Even as we piece together his final month traveling through Asia, we hear rumors of his spreading the Gospel, loving on people, even with a baptism or two. Many grieve Austin as a man who was just getting into his prime. But the Austin I know has been in his prime his entire life.
A distinct memory floods my heart of Austin, as a senior in high school, wearing Crocks (before they were cool), chasing kids around a playfield. I’m unsure whose smile was bigger, Austin’s or the kids’. Maybe it’s Austin’s flowing locks of hair, but I can’t help but see the reckless abandon of Jesus in this image.
Before I leave, I want to say that Austin wasn’t perfect. I had a comforting recollection this week of an argument I had with him. Most likely, I was in the wrong, but it reminded me that Austin, for all his beautiful attributes, was, in fact, a flawed human. And it was in his flawed humanity that God worked so heartily in and through him. There is only one perfect man who walked this earth, and Austin now gets to walk by His side.
–Thatcher Kelley
Burien.News extends our deepest condolences to Austin’s family and friends, both in Burien and beyond.
One Response
What a beautifully-written tribute.