Augustin J. and Nadine Bastien

Augustin Joseph "Augie" Bastien was born October 20, 1923 in Moosejaw, Saskatchewan, Canada, the son of Joseph and Malvina Bastien. After serving in the navy in WWII (1943-1945), during which time he received his naturalization papers, he lived in South Dakota and then Minnesota, where he married Delores Gilbert in 1946 and had three children, Gregory Augustin, Yvonne Bernadette and Stephen Michael Bastien; they were later divorced. In 1960 he moved to Alaska and filed for a homestead property of 160 acres in the SE corner of Section 13 and NE corner of Section 24, which lie on both sides of what is now Bastien Drive at the intersection of Dogbane Street off Island Lake Road in Nikiski. 

Nadine Hazel Hansen was born June 21, 1928 in Twin Falls, Idaho, daughter of W. L. and Hattie Hansen. At 18 she married Harry Buchanan but they divorced ten years later. During the year 1953, Nadine took a practical nurse's training course and worked at that profession until she drove up the Alaska Highway alone to visit members of her family who lived in Alaska. Her father, Bill Hansen, was a water well driller and also operator of the Hill Top Bar in Sterling. 

Here on the Kenai Peninsula she met Augie Bastien and they were married in June 1961 and they began building a new home on Augie's homestead. In winter they hauled logs in from the woods on a bobsled and Augie hewed them out by hand.

In South Dakota, Augie was well known for his guitar playing and had a western dance band for six years. He played for half an hour each day over radio station KOLY in Mobridge, SD. In Kenai, he played with "Moon" Mullin orchestra and entertained for many dances. He also engaged in carpentry work and fishing. 

On March 27, 1963, Augie and Nadine went out clamming in Seldovia Bay with friends Dr. Phillip Cary Whitehead, a physician and operator of the hospital at Seldovia, and Gary Sheldon, a Seldovia fisherman. Their boat overturned and all four aboard drowned. Augie and Nadine are buried in the Kenai City Cemetery; their companions were never found. The photo at left appeared in the Kenai Peninsula Cheechako News on March 29, 1963.

The Bastien homestead, which bordered Dogbane Lake, was inherited by Augie's three children, and it was subsequently subdivided and sold off to various parties through the years.