Justin Cline, the colorful, outspoken founder of Full Tilt Ice Cream, died early yesterday morning at Valley Medical Center. He was 49. A few weeks prior, on February 5, he suffered a massive heart attack, sending him to the hospital and rendering him unable to run his nearly two-decade-old ice cream shop, Full Tilt.
The GoFundMe launched after his initial heart attack was updated yesterday to let the community know that Cline had “moved on to the great ice cream shop in the sky.”
“Justin will be missed by so many, because he touched so very many people in his life,” the post added. “The number of stories of connections and care that we have heard this past month has been incredible.”
Launched in White Center in 2008, Full Tilt quickly became a community favorite. As the name suggests, the store was packed with pinball machines and won visitors (including one New York Times writer) over with flavors like Mexican Chocolate, Coffee Oreo, Sub Pop, and Mudhoney. (Cline was, obviously, a music lover.) In 2012, The Stranger’s Sarah Galvin described the original location as “like the Belltown I glimpsed through windows when I was underage.”
Cline, along with his wife and co-founder Ann Magyar, later expanded his ice cream empire, adding locations in Ballard, Capitol Hill, and Columbia City.
While many have taken to the GoFundMe’s comment section to remember Cline for his warm welcome and cold treats, many more will remember him for his outspoken advocacy. He used the platform handed to him by his success selling scoops to promote causes he believed in, launching flavors like “Stout Your Abortion” to raise money for Shout Your Abortion, a group that aims to destigmatize abortion across the country, and running a “Pints for Palestine” fundraiser, wherein all sales of the Arabic Coffee flavor went to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund. During the protests over George Floyd’s murder, Full Tilt donated several days of sales to #BlackLivesMatter organizations.
Jay Hain, Full Tilt’s former general manager, said that that’s just who Cline was.
“He was always down for the cause,” Hain said. “He was involved in various environmentalist activities when he was younger and, you know, he’s a musician and an artist and in all those scenes. It was kind of natural for him to be involved with the counterculture.”
One of Cline’s favorite stories, Hain said, was about the time he got arrested and charged with a felony at 17 for breaking into a restricted area on behalf of Greenpeace.
During the George Floyd protests, Cline caused controversy with a Facebook post linking to an article about Buffalo police breaking the skull of an elderly protestor, captioned simply, “Fuck the police.”
The store lost several large accounts over the post, Hain said, but Cline was willing to accept that. Later, after a local commenter took the store to task for being too political, Hain said, they made shirts out of Cline’s terse, unequivocal response: “Get fucked.”
While Cline didn’t mince words, Hain said, he wasn’t mean or dour. His activism, in Hain’s opinion, was an extension of his impish personality: “He was just mischievous and always had, like, a twinkle in his eye. He would come over and I’d be working on something and be like, ‘Hey you hear about this thing in the media?’ or [have] some funny band story and you’d just have this huge laugh and bullshit for the next 20 minutes nonstop.”
More than anything, Hain said, Cline had a bright and generous spirit.
“[He was] just a very, very lively person. And he was a really good man. Really larger than life and one of the kindest people I knew.”
Hain said, speaking on behalf of themself, production manager Rachel “Rascal” Herman, and wholesale manager Jen Gibson, that they were “distraught, like, totally at a loss,” but heartened by the outpouring support from the subcommunity of current and former store employees.
“Seeing all of them posting on Facebook and sharing their memories and whatnot, it’s clear that he had such a lasting and powerful impact for everybody who worked for him,” Hain said.
They also stressed that no assessment of Cline’s legacy would be complete without talking about his contributions to the city’s pinball scene. The Ballard location launched the career of Bobby Conover, one of the city’s premier pinball machine operators. Full Tilt Ballard’s pinball team also attended countless local, national, and international tournaments, and counted multiple world #1 players among its ranks.
Cline’s passing, Hain said, was a huge blow, but they’re able to take a bit of solace in the words Cline would share with them in the moments of crisis that come with running a small business: “It’s just ice cream.”
The GoFundMe, which will go to support Magyar and their two children as she prepares to take on the dual tasks of parenting and running a small business solo, sits at just under $70,000 of an $80,000 goal. Besides donating, the page listed several other ways to honor Cline’s memory:
* Continue giving to the GoFundMe to support Justin’s family during this time. Ann’s financial needs will only increase as she navigates this shift to single-parenting and keeping Full Tilt afloat.
* Send your memories, stories, artworks, and photos of or inspired by Justin to justininmemoriam at gmail.com. We will be compiling the stories, photos, memories, artworks into a book for Ann and the kids. If possible, title your email “contribution” to help us manage the inbox.
* Email justininmemoriam at gmail.com to offer any practical support you would like – either with your ideas for support you’d like to offer or an open offer for whatever Ann may need. Ann’s friends will be monitoring this inbox and will connect with Ann to see what kinds of supports are needed as time goes on. If possible, please title your email “support” to help us manage the inbox.
* Continue to visit Full Tilt when you can. Every scoop you enjoy, every round of pinball, and every beer you share with a friend helps keep Justin’s family and employees going.
* Hug your people and tell them you love them.
* Consider ways you can support your community. Justin’s store, his heart, and his time were open for those who needed him. Our communities are better when we are community builders.
* Get CPR certified. Ann was able to save Justin’s life the night of his heart attack because she knew how to perform CPR. A couple of hours of your time could save a life. https://cpr.heart.org/en/ or https://www.redcross.org/
Around the time the White Center Full Tilt opened I DJ’d at a fundraiser there. I think it was for LQBTQ+ causes. I do remember turnout was great and many people danced & ate ice cream. I remember Justin making sure I got paid well even though I wasn’t expecting it. I told him to keep it for the fundraiser we were doing but he told me I needed it too. Make sure I don’t undersell myself as an artist. I already loved Full Tilt’s ice cream & brand before that but it made me love it even more. Many condolences to his family & amazing crew.