John Monteverde '47, M.A. '50, Ph.D. '56

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For John Monteverde '47, M.A. '50, Ph.D. '56, his time at UCLA was a defining period in his life. UCLA was the place that set the course of his career, where he made lifelong friends, and established indelible memories. Monteverde passed away on June 19, peacefully at home, a month after his 100th birthday. A long-time resident of Southern California, Monteverde’s family moved from New Jersey to Los Angeles in 1936. He attended Manual Arts High School and then entered UCLA in 1942 at the age of 16, initially majoring in math, but later switching to English. In 1944 his education was interrupted by WWII when he joined the Navy, where he taught radar/sonar electronics to sailors. He returned to UCLA and received his three degrees, all in English. His Ph.D. dissertation, "The Rational Animal in English Literature 1603 – 1735," explores how writers of that period employed animals to express reason as a contrast to human reason (think of Gulliver's fourth voyage to the Land of the Houyhnhnms).

Teaching was Monteverde’s passion. He joined the faculty at San Diego State as a professor of English and specialized in British literature. He served as chairman of the English department for several years and was on the executive committee of the College of Arts and Letters. He typically taught four classes each semester, never took a sabbatical, and estimated that he taught 10,000 students over his 32-year career at San Diego State, trying to instill the importance of Hamlet, Macbeth and Othello to undergraduates. He also taught a very popular class on the Arthur Conan Doyle stories of Sherlock Holmes.

Monteverde moved to San Diego when he took his job at San Diego State, eventually settling in El Cajon, where he lived for over 50 years with his wife Gaylon and his son, Bob, on a one-acre plot with 50 avocado trees. He and Gaylon moved to Camarillo in 2019 where he enjoyed his final seven years.

When not teaching, Monteverde was a horse racing enthusiast, and he developed his own “foolproof” system for picking winners. He enjoyed the racetracks in Southern California, including Del Mar, Hollywood Park,and Auga Caliente.

He was a lifelong baseball fan and a devout follower of UCLA sports. He also enjoyed the music of Frank Sinatra and movies from the golden age of Hollywood.

Monteverde is survived by his wife, Gaylon; his son, Bob; stepchildren Lowell and Lori; granddaughters Caitlin and Geena; stepgrandchildren Helen and Jack; and great-grandson Andy.