Heuton, Verlin Dean AKA Merritt, Neil: General Semantics Epistemics
Verlin Dean Heuton, also known as Neil Merritt, died December 12, 2001 at the age of 70 from causes related to Alzheimer’s disease.
Born May 1, 1931 in Jefferson, Iowa, he was the youngest of the eight children of Edna Alice Heuton and Fredrick J. Heuton. Verlin attended Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, where he excelled in athletics, including track and field and football. After earning a degree in social sciences, he studied for a master’s degree at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York.
A longtime resident of North San Diego County, Verlin taught high school for some 30 years in the San Dieguito Union High School district, at San Dieguito High School and later at Torrey Pines High School. Verlin taught General Semantics and Epistemics in what were, for many years, the only such classes offered at the high school level.
Verlin is survived by his ex-wives Ann Heuton of Encinitas, California and Evelyn Niday of Clayton, North Carolina, and by his children Cheryl Ann Heuton of Pasadena, California, Mary Leigh Moore of Monterey, California, Brent Allen Heuton of Vista, California, and by a granddaughter, Madeline Merritt Falacci of Pasadena, Calif.
A Memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. January 19, 2002, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of San Dieguito at 1036 Solana Drive in Solana Beach. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, published January 6, 2002