Ed Augustine, 83, of Fort Dodge, died Saturday.

Augustine was the initial president of the U.S. 20 Corridor Association, and, according to his son, Jim Augustine, of Fort Dodge, he was responsible for helping to make the four-lane highway project a reality.

His father initially got involved with the project in the early 1980s.

“At that time, Highway 20 was very fragmented,” Jim Augustine said. “Little bits of it were four-lane, but certainly not much was four-lane.”

The Iowa Department of Transportation, according to Jim Augustine, was planning on selling some land that had been acquired for the potential Highway 20 project.

“My father, in finding that out, knew that if the Department of Transportation sold that right-of-way, it would never happen,” he said. “That inspired him to get involved immediately with it, and the first lobbying effort that was made with the Highway 20 Corridor Association was to convince the Department of Transportation and Iowa legislature and governor to not sell that right-of-way.”

The efforts were successful and the right-of-way was not sold.

Shirley Phillips, current president of the U.S. 20 Corridor Association, said Ed Augustine played an important role in the history of the association.

“We had Highway 20 East and Highway 20 West,” Phillips said. “Ed was instrumental in pulling the group together, so we were one association. Naturally, once that happened, we were able to make some inroads because we were all working towards the same goal, which was border-to-border.”

“He was extremely instrumental in that effort,” she added.

The Highway 20 project is now almost finished, with a completion date expected for 2018.

Seeing the project near completion made Ed Augustine very happy, according to his son.

“He was extraordinarily satisfied that the project is now finally going to completion,” Jim Augustine said. “The part that drew his attention (initially) is the part they’re working on now. That’s some of the right of way they were going to sell.”

He added his father knew the importance of the U.S. Highway 20 project.

“He knew how important that was from an economic standpoint for all the cities on that corridor to have a four-lane 20,” Jim Augustine said.

In addition to his work with Highway 20, Ed Augustine was also very active in community service.

According to his son, Ed Augustine served at various points as the president of the Fort Dodge Area Chamber of Commerce, the chairman of United Way and president of the Iowa Good Roads Association.

Ed Augustine came to Fort Dodge in 1957 to work as a territory manager and later western region manager for Gibbs-Cook, a dealership for Caterpillar construction equipment.

Eventually Gibbs-Cook was bought by Ziegler, and Augustine continued in that role until his retirement.

But even after retirement, Ed Augustine kept working. According to his son, he owned Barrett Moving and Storage, a moving company, up until his death.

Jim Augustine said his father wanted to give back to Fort Dodge because of how the community had treated him.

“He felt that the community was very, very good to my mom and my dad and his family, and he just wanted to give back what he could,” Augustine said.

He added that his father was very selfless.

“He was always wanting to contribute to the greater good in any way that he could, and he was a very unassuming man,” Jim Augustine said. “He always felt it very important to do these types of community things; community service, service to church, service to others.”

In fact, the younger Augustine said all the recognition his father received actually made him uncomfortable.

But while the elder Augustine enjoyed giving back to the community, his son said there was something that was even more meaningful to him.

“His community service was a great joy to him, but also his wife and family were his biggest joy and source of pride,” Jim Augustine said. “He just thrived on it. He thought that it was very important.”

His family includes his late wife, Treva; his son; his daughters, Jill Augustine, of Des Moines, and Joan Ascherl, of Fort Dodge; and five grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Laufersweiler-Sievers Funeral Home, 307 S. 12th St. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Corpus Christi Church, 402 N. Eighth St.