Obituary of Augie Hug
Augie Hug. Photo from Instagram.
Obituary of Augie Hug
– Augie has now finished his race, his earthly course, and we celebrate his glorious graduation into the presence of Jesus Christ.
Augie was born in San Jose, California, to David and Lynn Hug on Jan. 22, 1956. He went to school at Holy Rosary in Woodland, California, and Holy Cross in Broderick, California. He graduated from Ponderosa High School in Shingle Springs, California. His loving wife, Raquel Hug was the love of his life.
As a young man, Augie grew up hunting doves and deer in Northern California, which he pursued into adulthood. As he told me… part of it was about the hunt, the other part was his passion for being outdoors.
Recently, while I watched the Charlie Kirk memorial on TV I felt at times they were describing Augie. Although he didn’t have Charlie’s reach and platform, he did have a small, quiet ministry in the oil fields, he always had his Bible on his desk at the rig and if anyone asked him, he would share it.
He was the spiritual leader of our home; from day one we worked as a team.
Immediately upon graduating from high school Augie went to work in the oil fields dedicating 51 years to the oil business. He started at the bottom as a roughneck and worked his way up to Drilling Superintendent. I once heard a colleague describe Augie as a “Renaissance Man,” of the oil fields because he was a chef, wine savvy and world traveler.
Augie spent the last 27 years of his life as an employee of Driltek, an international oil and gas engineering and project management firm as a Senior Drilling Superintendent. Over those years, his work took him to the far corners of the world — from the North Slope of Alaska to the Sichuan Province in the heart of China; to the waters of the East Timor Sea off the northwest shore of Australia; and the Vaca Muerta unconventional play in Argentina, South America.
Recently, Augie moved to Texas to be closer to his final endeavor in the prolific Permian Basin. Augie was always the first-in for Driltek. He served as its ambassador, opening doors and making inroads across the world for the company and helping underwrite its continued success. In his day-to-day work, he acted as a symphony conductor on a drilling location, ensuring the 30+ contractors optimally and safely carried out their responsibilities to guarantee a success for his clients. Augie was truly a Maestro, as a man and employee, leading with a gentle disposition and cunning intelligence only outdone by his ability to navigate competing personalities to ensure project, client and company successes.
He was a well-respected winemaker for over 20 years in the Central Coast of California, while maintaining his job in the oil industry.
Augie left a lasting impact in every chapter of his life, including the Paso Robles wine industry, and through Bodega de Edgar, his legacy lives on in every bottle we craft. He was Papa Hug.
Augie was a man of integrity, described by all as a kind and gentle soul, an unkind word never came from his mouth, “a gentle giant.” He was steadfast in his commitment and support to his Christian beliefs and values of family and country.
Augie is preceded in death by his mother, Lynn; father, David; and daughter, Jessica.
Augie is survived by his loving wife, Raquel; daughter, Heather Castaneda Hug; grandsons, Jordan and Camilo; granddaughter, Story Rose; his sister, Holly; two brothers, Burt and Lance; niece, Danielle McKenzie; nephews, Shawn and Garrett; and his loving and supportive sisters-in-law, Nellie, Cathy, Mary; and brothers-in-law, Steve, Ben, Jaime and Ignacio.
We celebrate his glorious graduation into the presence of Jesus Christ. We will see Augie soon in the everlasting Kingdom of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
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