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Linda Austin presents Geary Superintendent Sean Buchanan a $221,928 check made out to Geary Public Schools, courtesy of the Austin Family Trust and the estate of Geary graduate and local farmer Frank Austin. She hopes the donation will help Geary students pursue higher or technical education.
GEARY – When Geary’s own Frank Austin died in late November 2021, he left behind a passion for education and helping students achieve their academic goals.
That generous spirit was on display last Tuesday, Jan. 11, when Frank’s relative Linda Austin presented a check to Geary Public Schools in his memory.
Frank Austin left Geary nearly $222,000. Linda Austin said he would have wanted that money to help kids with scholarships, though he didn’t specify how the district is to use it.
“I got a call just about a week ago that Frank Austin, who recently passed away … remembered our school and left something to our school,” Superintendent Sean Buchanan said at the meeting.
“I’m privileged and proud to be able to represent the Frank Austin Family Trust,” Linda Austin said, adding that Frank has “supported the school system and the community for a long time.”
“Frank always wanted students, any student, to be able to have the opportunity to further their education,” she said, “whether it be in a two-year program, a fouryear program or the technology centers. He was always interested in that. I think any kid could have walked up to him and said, ‘I need to go to school,’ and he would have been glad to do that.”
Frank Austin was a 1955 Geary High School graduate whose three children also attended Geary Public Schools. He went on to operate Canyon View Farms where he ran cattle, grew crops and raised dairy cows.
Before his death, Austin donated $200,000 and 2,000 acres of farmland to the Redlands Community College, which used his donation to establish a scholarship fund. Preference for the Austin Family Scholarship is given to graduates of Geary, Calumet, Hinton and Okarche schools.