Heaton Waring, 86, former 30-year Winslow resident, philosopher, poet, designer and planner, died on Aug. 20 at his home in Costa Rica. He had had a stroke several weeks beforehand.
He was born in Görlitz, Germany on Aug. 8, 1922, and spent much of his youth in Costa Ricaj. His father, also named Heaton, was a native of New York City. Heaton Sr. and his family lived for awhile in Uruguay and then settled in Costa Rica where the elder Heaton did pioneering work setting up workers compensation laws and the firemen’s brigade. His mother, Gertrude, was German and had resided in Cuba and Michigan.
As a child, Heaton became fluent in German, Spanish and English. After school in Costa Rica, he was sent to a private school in Germany from 1936 to 1939. He was able with some difficulty to leave Germany for Holland and sail to the United States on a refugee boat. He then joined his family in San Antonio, Texas and finished high school there.
The family then moved to San Francisco, where he and his father worked in the U.S. Bureau of Censorship. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve circa 1942 and was assigned to the Army Intelligence in the European Theater as a translator. After the war, using the G.I. Bill, he attended the University of Hawaii, where his parents had moved, and then the University of California Berkeley from 1946 to 1948. There, he received his B.A. in political science. He then went to Switzerland and Germany for three years to study Germanistics. In Zurich, he studied the works of the German poet and dramatist Goethe with Professor Emil Staiger. At the University of Basel, he attended lectures of theologian Karl Barth and existentialist philosopher Karl Jaspers; his studies with Jaspers had an enormous impact. He also attended the University of Tübingen for one semester before returning to Berkeley in 1951. Heaton returned to UC Berkeley and then worked with the U.S. Geological Survey, where he trained as a photogrammetrist, making topographical maps from aerial photos and doing “field completion” during summers in three western states over a five-year period.
After his marriage to Irmgard Grabo, he went back to UC Berkeley to study architecture. The couple’s first three children were born in California. From 1959 to 1961 the family lived in Eugene, Ore., where their fourth child was born and where Heaton studied architecture at the University of Oregon. The family settled in Hawley on Bainbridge Island in 1961, where their fifth child was born.
Heaton worked in Seattle with a photogrammetry firm for several years and later worked for several architectural firms. He also worked for the Kitsap County Housing Authority, during which time he oversaw 30 low-income units in the Silverdale area including Gold Tides 1. He was a member of the Winslow Planning Commission and was heavily involved in community affairs.
He was also a trustee of the nonprofit educational group, The Greenhouse, and taught classes on Goethe. He also enjoy acting in community theater.
Cynthia Turbak, his current wife, was with him in Costa Rica, where they had lived for 16 years before he died.
Heaton was preceded in death by his parents and older brother. He is survived by his wife, Cynthia, of Escazu, Costa Rica; his sister, Dolly (William) Sylvies of Boise, Idaho; former wife Irmgard Grabo of Bainbridge Island; his children Susan (William) Streiff of Kent, Brigit Waring (Scott Meyers) of Lopez Island, William H. Waring of Bainbridge Island, Anne Waring of Kingston, and Kathryn Perry of Sultan; and eight grand children, Lindsey, Jamie, Ygnacio, Ina, Julia, Ryan, Nikolaus and Jessica.
Cards may be sent to William Waring at PO Box 10053, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110.
His daughters will host a celebration of his life at 2 p.m. Sept. 14 at Seabold Community Hall.
