HARLINGEN — Meg Jorn, a well-known Harlingen architect and interior designer, died Wednesday in a traffic accident on Expressway 83.
At approximately 9:41 a.m., Harlingen police responded to westbound lanes of the expressway at Altas Palmas Road for an auto accident involving an 18-wheel truck and a passenger vehicle.
As officers were responding to the initial crash, a call of a second crash was reported at westbound Expressway 83 and Stuart Place Road involving an 18-wheel truck and an SUV.
Officers arrived on scene, and confirmed Jorn was deceased.
“It’s shocking,” Ed Meza, Harlingen Downtown director, said when he heard about Jorn’s passing.
“She was just full of life,” Meza said. “She was such a wonderful soul and beautiful person.”
Meza recalled Jorn’s smile and healthy lifestyle. He noted she was on the Mayor’s Wellness committee and enjoyed jogging and swimming. She also was a member of the Harlingen Planning and Zoning Advisory Board.
Jorn was president of Megamorphosis Inc., an award-winning full service architectural and interior design firm based in Harlingen, according to her Linkedin page.
Her firm has been involved in some of the most high-profile projects in the region, including the renovation of The Reese Hotel in downtown Harlingen, the Harlingen school district’s new PerformingArts Center, Harlingen’s new west side fire station and the Saint Anthony Parish Community Center.
Currently, the firm is involved in the San Benito Cultural Arts Center project.
On her Facebook page, she described herself as an avid runner for more than 20 years, running in every distance race from 5Ks to more than 20 marathons, including the Boston Marathon, which she participated in several times.
Jorn was married and had three children. She grew up in Harwich, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, where she was a member of the Harwich High School track team.
She would go on to graduate from the University of Texas at Austin.
In April 2007, Jorn told a Valley Morning Star reporter that the Boston Marathon coincides with her grandmother’s birthday, and the opportunity to run gives her an excuse to visit home.
“It’s part of the reason I choose to do the marathon,” Jorn said at the time.
She also was involved with other competitions.
“I try to do one marathon a year,” Jorn said. “They’re kind of rough on your body; it takes a toll on your body.”
At the time, her best marathon time, which was done at the 1989 Boston Marathon, was three hours and nine minutes.
“It’s interesting to see yourself work just as hard to get not as far,” she said of running alongside hundreds of people.
Some time in 2007, at the Austin Marathon, Jorn finished second out of 200 women in her age group. For Jorn, it was a huge surprise, as the new course was more difficult with plenty of hills.
Jorn’s Facebook page has this quote, “Life is precious…..let us try not to waste it!”
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3:30 P.M.
Well known Harlingen architect Meg Jorn was killed Wednesday morning in an accident on the expressway near the Altas Palmas exit in Harlingen.
Police say they were initially called to an wreck involving an 18-wheeler and a car on the westbound lanes of the highway at Altas Palmas Road at 9:41 a.m.
The car was crushed between the tractor-trailer rig and the concrete barrier. The force of the impact broke a section of the barrier and the front of the trailer tore open and spilled its cargo onto the shoulder of the highway.
Police say as they responded to the first accident a second one occurred on the expressway and Stuart Place Road.
Jorn was driving a black SUV and was killed at the scene. Her vehicle was crushed and left on its side.
Police say the westbound lanes of the Expressway from Stuart Place Road past Altas Palmas Road are shut down. Please avoid the area and reroute if possible.
