Daniel Desilva Huston
3/23/21 – 3/15/12
Daniel DeSilva Huston passed away at Mission Hospital in Laguna Beach on March 15, 2012, just eight days shy of his 91st birthday.
He was born in Riddle, Ore., where his parents were homesteading on land won through a lottery for WWI veterans. He and his family moved to Bell, Calif., in 1928. Huston entered Compton Junior College in 1939 where he went on to become captain of the football team and where he met his future wife of 67 years, Mary Lou. There, Huston signed up for civilian pilot training, and in 1941 enlisted in the Naval Air Corp. He knew that if America went to war, he wanted to be a pilot.
Dan and Mary Lou were married in 1943 at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Tex. Huston earned his aviator wings and was commissioned as an ensign. He was sent to duty in the Pacific and assigned to the battleship USS Colorado, eventually earning 10 battle stars and two air medals in 21 months at sea.
In 1960 Huston and his family moved to Laguna Beach, the town he fell in love with during his college days. He became a member of the Optimist Club and was active in Little League and other civic activities. He was a real estate broker and a mortgage loan agent until his retirement. He enjoyed writing and has been published in Wings of Gold, Sea Classics Magazine and local newspapers.
The couple traveled in Europe, Canada and the U.S., and they treasured their lifelong group of friends, whom he loved to tease with his well-known practical jokes. Huston was unfailingly patriotic and was known to tear up during a performance of the national anthem. A military fly-by never failed to make him cry.
Huston is predeceased by his parents, P.K. and Mary DeSilva Huston; his wife, Mary Lou; daughter, Holly Ott; and his sister Helen Bertrand, who died the same day. He is survived by his brother Robert Huston; daughters Haven (Arthur) Tieck and Hilary (Donald) Gorrie; grandchildren Ryan Tieck (Elizabeth), Taryn Tieck, and Bryn Kingsbury (Donald); and two great-granddaughters Alexis and Rylee Tieck.
Huston treasured his friends, family, and the 52 years he and Mary Lou lived in his beloved Laguna Beach, where he proudly resided in their house on the hill with its panoramic view of the coastline until the days preceding his death.
The family wishes to thank caregiver Ellen Rose for the excellent, loving care extended to Dan and Mary Lou and the couple’s beloved dog, Charlie.
A memorial celebration will be held at a later date.
