Aurelia Mary (Miku) Worton

Aurelia Mary (Miku) Worton, age 88, of Wilmington, formerly of Newark, DE, died on October 22, 2021. We will always remember her for her huge and abiding generosity of spirit, love and commitment to her family, wit and sense of humor, respect for and appreciation of nature and all living beings. Aurelia was a giving and loving wife, mother, step-mother, and grandmother. She will be deeply missed and forever remembered. 

Aurelia was born on June 30, 1933, in New York, NY, the second of three children of John and Mary Miku. Her parents, both Hungarian, had immigrated to the United States in the 1920s, to work for the chance of a better life. They lived in a small Hungarian community in the Yorkville area of the Upper East Side until they eventually moved to the Bronx. Aurelia’s first language was Hungarian, and she retained a facility with the language that she later used to research her genealogy. She attended Catholic schools, graduating from Saint Jean Baptist High School in 1950.

Prior to her first marriage in 1956, Aurelia worked as a stenographer in the New York offices of General Electric Company. She worked to help advance the Cold War anti-communist campaign of Radio Free Europe by impersonating a Hungarian airline stewardess who had escaped from behind the “Iron Curtain.” In the summer of 1954, she led a group of students on a two-month tour of France, Switzerland and Italy. While on this tour she met her first husband, Jack Kenneth Merrill.

Aurelia and Jack had four children to whom she was devoted and adoring. They lived in Brooklyn and Queens before moving to Framingham, and eventually Pembroke, Massachusetts. Aurelia loved being a mother and considered it a personal calling. She had a wide range of interests many that she shared with her children, such as cooking, insect and rock collecting, bird watching, gardening, comic book collecting, puzzle making and reading. She enjoyed listening to classical music and opera.

After her divorce from Jack and while living in Pembroke, Mass., Aurelia enrolled in college classes at Bridgewater State College, where she studied Psychology and Social Work. She interned with social service agencies to gain professional experience and earned a BS degree in 1979.

That same year, Aurelia married John A. “Jack” Worton. She received her MS degree from Leslie College in 1982, and obtained certification as a “Nationally Certified School Psychologist” by the National Association of School Psychologists. After relocating from Massachusetts to Newark, Delaware, Aurelia worked for thirteen years for the Colonial School District as a School Psychologist.

Aurelia was active in the Newark community. She made many friends and enjoyed the Newark Senior Center’s Computer Club, Stamp Club, and swimming group. She was an enthusiastic member of the AAUW’s Gourmet Dinner group. After retirement, she and John traveled to China, South America, and Europe. She became interested in genealogy and investigated her heritage during four trips to Hungary and Romania, where she visited archives and met with relatives to obtain information about her ancestry.

Aurelia is survived by her sister, Isabelle Miku of New York; her children, Heather Merrill of New York, Jack Merrill, Jr.  of Massachusetts, Steven Merrill of New Hampshire, and Jennifer Gaylord of Virginia; nine grandchildren: Nicolas and Eliana Carter; Max Fanning and Sam Merrill; Christopher, Scott, and Victoria Merrill; and Julie and Jillian Gaylord; and five step-children along with their six children.

The Merrill and Worton families would like to thank the staff at the Country House for their loving care of Aurelia.

A memorial service will be held at 12 noon on Sunday, November 21, 2021, at Spicer-Mullikin Funeral Home, 121 West Park Place, Newark, DE. Face coverings will be required for all those in attendance not immunized with the COVID-19 vaccine per the Governor of Delaware. Interment will be held privately.

Any family members or friends who are unable to attend the memorial service for Aurelia can live stream the service by clicking here.

The family suggests either a floral tribute or a contribution in Aurelia’s memory to Employee Contribution Fund, Country House, 4830 Kennett Pike, #5502, Wilmington, DE 19807.