Donald R. Wiesnet

Donald R. Wiesnet of Oakton, VA died on August 13, 2025. Don was born February 7, 1927, in Buffalo, NY, the son of Rose and Charles Wiesnet. Don is preceded in death by his loving wife, Evelyn (Jordan) in 2020, and survived by sons Andrew (Vicki), and Peter, and daughters Elizabeth (Will) Stettner, and Ellen Hagey. He was a devoted grandfather to his eight grandchildren April Stettner, Nick Wiesnet, Melissa Stettner, Kevin Hagey, Allison Hagey, Jackson Wiesnet, Samuel Wiesnet, and Luke Wiesnet.

Don was born and raised in Buffalo, NY, along with his brother Norbert and sister Dorothy. He was the youngest and the first child in the family to be born in a hospital. He grew up in Buffalo’s long cold winters and with the challenges of the depression. His father, Charles, delivered bakery goods with horse and wagon, his mother Rose worked as a seamstress. As a young man, Don spent hours at the Buffalo Museum of Natural History where he developed an interest in geology.

During World War II Don served in the Pacific Theater with the US Navy. He entered service on March 4, 1944, three weeks after his 17th birthday, while still a senior in East High. He took the Eddy Test that would assess one’s aptitude for becoming a radar technician and would have allowed him to enlist as a seaman, first class. However, the technical aspects of the course were not to his liking and he ended up as a weather observer, serving on the carrier USS Nehenta Bay, as an Aerographer’s Mate 3rd Class before being discharged in 1946.

Don attended Syracuse University from 1946-1947 and then transferred to SUNY at Buffalo where he earned both a BA in Geology and a MA in Geohydrology, graduating in 1952. In 1952 Don married Evelyn Jordan, of Buffalo, NY and they decided to move to Virginia in search of employment with the government. It was in Vienna VA where they settled to raise their family. Evelyn would later teach Kindergarten at Vienna Elementary (18 years) and then taught first grade at Flint Hill Elementary (7 years).

He found employment as a geologist GS7 with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Washington, DC for $4,200 per year. For the next 15 years he served as a geologic map editor, ground water geologist and project geologist and with his family spent time in Tucson, Arizona and Boston, Massachusetts. In 1967 he transferred into the US Naval Oceanographic Office as a research hydrologist investigating coastal areas in Korea and Vietnam. After four years he accepted a position as a Senior Research Hydrologist with NOAA/National Satellite Service where he developed programs to use satellite data for hydrologic studies and the study of various other land sciences. As Chief of the Land Sciences Branch, he was given a National Science Foundation grant to visit and collect satellite data at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, to prepare a mosaic from satellite-derived data and as a result of his work, has an ice feature named after him.

In 1966 Don re-enlisted for a direct commission in the US Naval Reserve serving his time in Naval Intelligence retiring as Captain in 1987. After retiring from the Government in 1982, he founded Satellite Hydrology Inc. in Vienna, VA, a research and development firm that for the next 10 years aided emerging nations to adapt remote sensing techniques to search for and develop water resources. He served as the president and CEO, consulting for various companies and government organizations in Kenya, Nepal, Panama, and Bangladesh. In this capacity, he lectured at the University of Colorado, Alberta, Alabama, Syracuse, Shippensburg, Kutztown State, Penn State, Maryland, Florida, George Mason, Morgan State and SUNY Buffalo.

He was a member of the International Glaciological Society, the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing and a fellow of the Geological Society of America. He was a past president of the Eastern Snow Conference and a former Board member of the Antarctica Society. He was also an Editor of the 725-page book entitled “Satellite Hydrology”, contributed a chapter on remote sensing in a book titled “Facets of Hydrology” and contributed on various topics in the Manual of Photographic Interpretation. During his career he authored and co-authored more than 80 reports for the government and journals, wrote poetry to commemorate various occasions and had a profile in “Who’s Who in America”.

In retirement Don became active in the Vienna-Oakton Chapter 1116 of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) serving for a time as the chapter’s president. For years as the Chapter’s Culture Chair, Don wrote a popular column entitled “Wiesnet’s Window on the World” that provided insights, political comments and humor to the readers of the Chapter’s newsletter.

In 1990 he was selected to cover the Silver-Gray Haired Committee for Congressman Tom Davis (R-10th). In 1995, Don was a Delegate to the White House Conference on Aging. Don also served as a volunteer for Congressman Davis in his Herndon Office. He was an avid birder and a member of the Northern Virginia Birding Society and the North American Bluebird Society. For many years he would participate with colleagues from the USGS in its annual Christmas Count. He and Evelyn loved living in Vienna VA raising their children at 601 McKinley Street. Don was a lifetime member of Our Lady of Good Council.

Interesting Fact: The Wiesnet Ice Stream— An Ice Stream in Antarctica about 15 nautical miles long flowing into Venable Ice Shelf west of Allison Peninsula. Named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic names (US-ACAN) after Donald R. Wiesnet, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, pioneer, from the 1970s to the 1980s, in the use of remotely sensed data for mapping Antarctica and first to conceive of the use of polar orbiting satellite data to completely map the continent.

Funeral Service will be held at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, 1190 Lawyers Road, Reston, VA on Monday, September 29 at 11am. His burial will be at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.

WIESNET’S WINDOW ON THE WORLD

As I gaze out of my window today. I find myself musing about last month’s column, wherin I commented on the many faces of America. America is still a melting pot for all races, creeds.. and colors, and we here in the metropolitan Washington area see this daily. I have been fortunate in my career to have been sent to many foreign lands and to have met people of many Indeed, it has been fun to learn about the various cultures, customs, and religions of the When we were kids (remember?), we used to tell jokes, and joke books would list various jokes under headings like “Irish, Scotch, Jewish, Italian, Afro-American.” etc. Today such listings would undoubtedly be labeled politically incorrect.

Last year on an Elderhostel trip at Trinity College, Camarthen, Wales, our group held a party one night, and everyone was encouraged to tell a story or joke. One gentleman stood up and told a gem of a joke, which I-regretably-can’t recall. But it was a delightful joke about a Jewish man. The house roared. When the laughter subsided, he added, “I can tell that joke because I’m Jewish! Later. I told him that I enjoyed the joke, and added that I probably couldnt repeat it because / wasnt Jewish. He nodded understandingly, and we agreed that in today’s world people are highly sensitive and have lost the ability to laugh at themselves.

We tend to be oversensitive and defensive. When I say that women usually make better nurses than men, must get angry letters from the Male Nurses Association? Will I get a reprimand from the National Association of Women for using stereotypes? We need stereotypes and generalities to talk to one another. We need to recognize that Jews and Christians hold different beliefs and ceremonies: Afro-Americans and Hindus have different customs:
Hispanics and Asians are culturally disparate. To be different from someone else is not “bad.” It is our cultural heritage, and we ought to be aware that others may not understand. If we are aware, perhaps we can again laugh at ourselves and be more tolerant of others.

When I was a young bachelor living in Arlington with four other guys, one of our “clever” fellows was fond of answering the telephone somewhat sacrilegiously, “First Church of Christ, Christ speaking.” One of our group was a Jewish lad. One afternoon his rabbi called. Upon hearing “First Church of Christ, Christ speaking,” the rabbi exclaimed, “Oi, have I got the wrong number!” We all loved the rabbi, not only for his quick wit, but for giving us a story to share with our friends, both Jewish and Christian. Humor is a part of our American culture, and I am,

Your cultural chairman

Don Wiesnet

Birthday cards I received on my latest birthday:
Front page: Happy birthday from your old friends!
Inside: Actually, your old, old, old, old friends.

Front page: You’re older but WISER… You are as young as you feel… Youre not getting
older. You’re getting BETTER!