Austin Trowbridge was so much more than a friend. He lived every day of his life pursuing his interests and spreading a sense of joy and elation among everyone whose life he has so profoundly influenced.
Austin was an excellent representation of a “renaissance man”. Throughout his life he had an endless amount of interests including, (but far from limited to): art, music, parkour, video games, psychology, and neuroscience. There was never anything that Austin “wasn’t good” at. I can recount countless occasions in which he would pick up anything from a unicycle to a pair of devil sticks and proceed to excel in its use as I stood watching in awe.
Since the first day I met Austin, (while he ran around the halls of Wooster wearing his “Super-Austin” cape for a Halloween event), he has influenced my own life in an endless amount of ways. Being three years younger than him, he took a role as a mentor in my life that would even sometimes make David jealous. He is accountable for my love in roller coasters and electronic music and tricking and super smash bros and so much more. I am liable for having told every single one of my classmates throughout middle school all about Austin and all these amazing adventures we went through. I loved being woken up in the middle of the night by a phone alarm to be comforted by a text from Austin and the “Positivity Patrol”. I will forever cherish the times spent anywhere from eating watermelon in Pompeii to practicing flips at EZ Air simply laughing and enjoying life.
Austin will live on, not only through our memories, but through the lasting influence he has had on everyone’s life. Whether it be his contagious laugh, quirky sense of humor, or ability to remain positive despite having been through so much, Austin's eternal power will forever be in my heart.
- Daniel d’Olimpio
I met Austin in my freshman theatre class my first day of highschool. We partnered together on a project in which we introduced each other to the class through a song. Austin came over to my house to rehearse the day after, and the first thing he said was “David… I can’t sing.”. So we rapped our project, and a lifelong friendship was born. We played scary videogames, traveled, wrote music, and sometimes just talked about life and what we were going to do out of high school. No one I have ever met, or will ever meet, was as positive and loving as Austin. I remember being blown away by Austin and his ability to always find the upside in any situation. No matter how many times we had failed to beat a level, how much school work we were buried under, or how serious our conversations were, simply being with Austin filled me with hope and love. Austin gave me and everyone he knew a kind of infinite love that we will forever carry with us, no matter what challenges we face. It is the brightest flames that burn the shortest, and though Austin may be gone, the light he put out into the world will never go out.
- David d'Olimpio
