Austin Farland Kilian

Austin Farland Kilian, 91, died peacefully at his home in Palm Desert, CA. on April 27, 2012.

A funeral service will be held 10:30 AM Friday, June 15, 2012 at West Nidaros Lutheran Church, rural crooks, SD. Interment will follow in the West Nidaros Cemetery. A luncheon will be served following the interment.

Austin Farland Kilian was born on September 19, 1920 to Mabel A. and Ward Van Kilian, on his grandfather’s farm near Crooks, SD. While still a toddler, he moved with his parents to Vilas, SD. He attended grammer school and two years of high school in Vilas and graduated from high school in Howard, SD.

Austin displayed an early interest in art. As a young boy, he formed highly realistic sculptures of famous humans and of small animals, from modeling clay. He built a wide range of wooden toys and drew endless number of cartoons. In high school, his talent in drawing became known. He was commissioned by the editor of the county newspaper to draw a map of the county showing all roads and natural features and farmsteads with the occupants’ names. The map was published by the Rand McNally Company in Chicago and became a standard reference.

In 1938, he enrolled in Augustana College in Sioux Falls where he became active in art study and activities. He became editor of the student yearbook. Noteably, he created the first cartoon caricatures of “Ole, the Viking” as an emblem or logo for student athletic teams and other activities, which has since evolved into the present-day Viking logo.

Upon graduation from Augustana in 1942, he entered into the military service with the 39th Engineer Combat Regiment. He remained with this unit throughout World War II, in extremely demanding assignments in Morocco, Algeria, Sicily and in the savage battles for the Italian mainland, including Anzio Beach. The 39th Engineers were attached to over twenty different military groups of varied nationality during the war, including the legendary French Foreign Legion at Sidi-Bel-Abbes, Algeria. Austin’s study of the French language at Augustana, enabled him to serve as an interpreter for his Regiment in North Africa and in Italy as a military emissary to the Vatican in Rome. He was returned to civilian life in 1946.

Austin studied design at South Dakota State College. He received the terminal graduate degree of master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa and went on to become a professor at the University of Idaho. There he met and married Elizabeth Jeppson, an English teacher. They had two children.
The young couple went to France where Austin studied at the Academe Montmartre in Paris with the legendary Fernand Leger. He went on to the University of Mexico City and to Ohio State University, Baylor University and California Western University.
As a teacher, he served as chairman of the art department of Dillard University in New Orleans, Baylor University in Waco, TX and California Western in San Diego. He joined the art faculty of the College of the Desert in Palm Springs, CA in 1970. In 1984, his wife, Elizabeth was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Palm Desert.

Austin continued alone and remained at the College of the Desert until his retirement, twenty-five years ago. It is estimated that he taught over 40,000 students in his varied career. In retirement, he maintained a studio in his home in Palm Desert, where he produced huge montages which could be reproduced by computer-driven jet printers.

Throughout his adult life, he was heavily involved in the arts outside the classroom. His paintings and other works have been shown in over 40 exhibitions nationwide. He organized many art shows and for seven years, was director of the large art fair in Del Mar, CA. He served as host of radio and television programs. He served on many board, commissions and art juries. He gave lectures, consultations and advisory services. He traveled widely in Europe and led a number of educational tours abroad. He received numerous awards, prizes and other recognitions.

Austin was preceded in death by his wife, Elizabeth, his parents, Mabel and Ward Van Kilian.

He is survived by his daughter, Amy (Philip) Brookman, Tacoma Park, MD., his son Michael Kilian, Oakland, CA, a brother, Tom of Sioux Falls, four grandchildren, Daniel Brookman, Alanna, Amanda, and David Kilian cousins and other extended family.