Elena Borisovna Nugent

Lena was born to Boris Stavitski and Nina Stavitskaya on July 27, 1963, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Growing up, she and her older brother Oleg were very independent as their father was often away for work as an engineer in remote places like Siberia, while their mother was a dedicated teacher who also taught Lena in high school. Even after receiving several master’s degrees, she still considered those lessons the most difficult since her mom knew exactly when to test her in front of the class, much to her dismay. Those years helped develop the work ethic, discipline, persistence, and sense of responsibility that classmates and colleagues associated with her.

After passing her state exams and graduating school, Lena attended universities in Tashkent and Moscow, earning master’s degrees with honors in English/Arabic and conference interpreting, while also showing foreigners the beauty of Uzbekistan as a university guide. She became a highly respected simultaneous interpreter trusted with interpreting the president of Uzbekistan, prime ministers, diplomatic officials, and organizations including the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. She considered being the only woman she saw driving a car in Tashkent an equally impressive achievement, even if it did mean getting pulled over often by police who were just as impressed.

Her work exposed her to many world cultures, developing close contacts throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia with her kindness, modesty, and sense of humor, enabling her to find common ground and respect with those she crossed paths with. Lena’s love for the United States blossomed when she visited California through an exchange program in 1989. She saw a true land of opportunity while living with her host family, visiting cultural sites across Los Angeles, flying to islands off the coast, and giving a memorable speech at the local Rotary International club, all during a time when very few visited the US from the Soviet Union. She returned on December 12, 1995, immigrating together with a 5-year-old aspiring model, her son Arseni. She quickly adapted to American life amid a harsh Chicago winter, determined to thrive in any environment as she was already accustomed to doing with her pragmatic approach to life, seeing any challenges as opportunities to become stronger.

Since Arseni was more interested in going to downtown Chicago to eat hot dogs rather than modeling, despite her own promising modeling career, Lena decided to begin a new adventure in the Washington, DC area. In October 1998, she met the love of her life, Gerald, and they were married on April 24, 1999. They built a family life together based on love, passion, sharing, trust, and understanding. Although Elena and Gerald grew up half a world apart, they shared the same beliefs with respect to family, life, love, and God. She guided the family to many wonderful experiences with her zest for living in the now. As she continued building her career, no matter how demanding it was, she always put family first. After proudly receiving her US citizenship in 2003, she reunited with her mom the next year to look after her while she helped to look after Arseni.

Lena loved to dance, was a talented dancer since her school years, and her second family became the Zumba dance fitness students she taught as the first certified Zumba instructor in Virginia. Due to her popularity with colleagues and students, she was asked to teach many different fitness classes and mastered many styles. She touched many people with her compassion, joy for life, energy, drive, and was proud that many of her students were inspired to become instructors themselves. She also earned a black belt from the U.S. Taekwondo College after years of dedication and training.

She also loved animals, especially lions since she was a Leo, and had a soft spot for schnauzers, whether miniature or giant. She took great joy in playing with her son’s giant schnauzer, Annabelle, who would always find a way to snuggle up with Lena no matter how little room was left on the couch. Sig, the toy Maltese, also provided much happiness and comfort disproportionate to his size and was also deeply fond of Lena.

After reaching the executive level in strategic communications with some of the largest US companies and achieving career goals, receiving an additional master’s degree in business management, and sharing her passion for fitness with others, Lena also launched and grew several businesses. As an entrepreneur, her businesses included translations, coaching, beauty, and e-commerce. She shared her life experiences as a business coach, public speaker, and published author, motivating others to act on their dreams to make them happen. Moving to the US was a big risk for her, but she believed there is an even greater risk in not going after your dreams and seeing where life takes you, just as it took an ambitious young lady from Tashkent across the world.

Lena is survived by her loving husband Gerald of Woodbridge, Virginia, son Arseni (Julia), niece Ekaterina (Igor) and their children, Valeria and Ilya, along with her dearest friend Elena Glazkova. She was preceded in death by her father Boris, mother Nina, and brother Oleg. Donations may be made in her memory to St. Nicholas Cathedral in Washington, DC.

“Per aspera ad astra”