Jorge Arturo Thevenet

January 27, 1953 - October 16, 2018

Jorge Arturo Thevenet, 65, passed on Tuesday, October 16, 2018, at his home in Ashburn, Virginia. Jorge was born January 27, 1953 in Montevideo, Uruguay. He was the son of the late Jorge Arturo Thevenet and Ana Maria Canziani de Thevenet. He is survived by his mother and by his loving wife, Lisa Zavada Thevenet, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and many other family members. Jorge and his family moved to the Washington area in 1965. He is a graduate of Washington & Lee High School in Arlington, VA and of George Mason University, where he earned a BS in Business Administration in 1975. He worked as an Accountant and Auditor. Throughout his life, Jorge devoted his time to public service. He is a former member of the Oakton Jaycees. He was an Extra Class Amateur Radio operator and a member and former President and Director of the Vienna Wireless Society, where he coordinated and led numerous public service projects, including ‘Spook Watch’, providing safety and welfare communication for Vienna’s annual Halloween Parades, and worked at the annual Turkey Trot.5K. In Loudoun County, Jorge organized teams of volunteers to provide communications for public events including the March of Dimes walk in Leesburg, the National Trail Ride 5 and 10K rides, and the Loudoun Red Cross bike events. Jorge was a volunteer examiner (VE) for the ARRL and Laurel groups, administering amateur radio licensing exams for the FCC. He organized a team of VE’s and worked with local radio groups to run test sessions for people entering the hobby or upgrading their licenses. Jorge was instrumental in creating the National Weather Service's volunteer severe weather spotting program called Skywarn, for which he received an NWS Public Safety Award. Jorge and Lisa spent many days and nights at the NWS forecast office receiving real time severe weather reports over amateur radio that were immediately relayed to the forecasters which were integrated into the weather warnings during many blizzards, floods and tornado events. Their efforts supported the NWS' mission saving lives and property. This updated Skywarn program has been adopted nationwide. Jorge served for 18 years as a team leader for Loudoun County Red Cross Disaster Services, helping local families in the aftermath of home fires or storm damage. He worked closely with the county Fire and Rescue teams to assess needs and provide support. He managed the LCRC field office set up at Leesburg airport for the many victims of hurricane Katrina who evacuated to Loudoun County. Jorge also served as a translator for local Emergency Management teams and first responders. Jorge truly enjoyed meeting people and made friends easily. He had a love of history and world cultures, and loved learning from the people he met. He was always ready to help neighbors and friends with anything they needed, and always looked out for them. We will all miss him.