ALUMNI
by Justin Skiba / photography by Brett Kosmider
ALUMNI PROFILE: DAN AUSTAD After 60 years in leadership positions, sometimes Dan Austad just likes to be a kid again. The 1959 Sturgeon Bay High School graduate has had a lifelong passion for wooden-model and toy building.
Fire Department for 34 years and as president of the Door County Maritime Museum. Those endeavors are in addition to years of being the face of Door County Hardware, a family-owned business.
“When some men get into their 50s and 60s, they may revert to doing some of the things that they wish they were able to do as a child,” he said.
Austad considers his life “quite a journey of luck, luck, luck.” At age 14, he began working at Door County Hardware, a business his parents owned. Then, after heading to Madison Business College when he was 18, Austad’s father died. He returned home from college frequently to help his mother continue to run the family’s hardware store.
One of Austad’s more prominent displays — a model of the 1878 Door County Courthouse — sits near the entrance of the Door County Government Building. Other models he’s built have been on exhibit in the Door County Maritime Museum and the Door County Highway Department. The hobby is a welcome respite from his duties as the longest-serving member of the Door County Board of Supervisors. 50
door county living / doorcountypulse.com
Austad has tallied 40 years of service in local government, beginning in 1978. He’s also served with the Sturgeon Bay
“I had no intention of being in hardware,” he said. “I was only a college freshman, and [my father’s death] altered my life. I saw the opportunity there, but it was only a small business
