He had just finished the seventh grade, but Jorge Alfredo Hernandez Velasco left his mark — he had a smile that could light up a room.
You hear that about him over and over when you ask people what they remember about Jorge. He tragically died at his Sperryville home on June 4. A Rappahannock County Public Schools spokesperson said they could not share the cause of death.
A candlelight memorial service, organized by the school district’s Parent and Teacher Organization (PTO), will be held Thursday, June 12 at 7:30 p.m. on the elementary school’s upper hill.
Just last month, Jorge, 13, and his seventh grade classmates celebrated the end of their years in that school, first with a trip to the Richmond Zoo, then with a party at the county park. It was a time to remember where they all had been, and maybe think about how they’d be starting a new phase of their lives in the fall.
(Photo/Courtesy)
Last Monday night many of them gathered in Maddox Funeral Home in Front Royal to pay their respects to a classmate who would no longer be making that passage with them.
The Rappahannock County School Board held a moment of silence for Jorge at its Tuesday night meeting, which roughly a dozen residents attended.
A “burst of sunshine”
“He was a very respectful young man,” said Rose Covarrubias, a close friend of Jorge’s parents, Martin and Estella. “He always spoke very highly of his parents.”
He also was an honor roll student, she said, and one who helped his parents with their landscaping work. And he loved gardening. He even had a little side business, according to Covarrubias. He sold eggs from the chickens the family raised.
Smith Cliffton, an instructor at Totality Martial Arts in Sperryville, got to know Jorge through Totality’s youth program, in which the boy participated a few years ago. He was struck by how upbeat Jorge always seemed.
“He was a very happy, bubbly boy,” he said.
That’s how Susan Huff, co-owner of Stonewall Abbey Wellness in Sperryville, remembers him, too. “When he came in here, he was a burst of sunshine on a rainy day.”
Jorge had five older half brothers who live in Mexico. Two of them flew in to join the service at the funeral home.
Donations to help the family cover the funeral expenses can be made in two ways. They can be made through the Rappahannock PTO by bringing cash or check donations to the Atlantic Union Bank and directed to the attention of PTO treasurer, Angela Shavatt. Also, the PTO can accept donations via PayPal at [email protected]
Totality Martial Arts is also accepting donations on its Instagram page.
