“We met in 1964 when Vivian organized a group house on McKinley Street in Dewey Beach,” Bob explains. “We had about 30 people in the group house. Like the two of us, most of them worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Some were military, and one person was a beer distributor. It was always nice to have a beer distributor as part of your group house back then.”

Bob, who was born in Schenectady, N.Y., and Vivian, who was born in Waterloo, Mass., fell in love with each other and Dewey Beach after establishing the group house. They were married in 1966 and did their best over the next two decades to combine their careers with their special passion for summer vacations in Dewey.

Vivian worked in clandestine operations for the CIA, doing the kind of highly sensitive work that has been told and retold in countless international spy novels from the Cold War period. Bob specialized in science and technology, the super-classified aspects of high-tech weaponry, rockets and missiles. He worked for senior intelligence directors and was often assigned to the state department where he ran intelligence groups for ambassadors in several countries. That work took him to the Far East, Switzerland and Central America. Vivian kept closer to the couple’s home in northern Virginia.

In 1976, Bob and Vivian bought a home on Chesapeake Street in Dewey Beach and made the spacious residence a bed and breakfast – the first B&B in this area. Many of their first regular guests were CIA employees.

In 1992, the Barrys moved permanently to Dewey Beach and became involved in town government. They helped former Dewey Beach Mayor Jim Lavelle develop regulations for bed and breakfasts, and they founded the Delaware Shore Bed & Breakfast Association in 1994. Vivian was president of that organization for several years.

“We’ve had thousands of bed-and-breakfast guests over the years,” explains Vivian, who studied hotel-motel management after retiring from the CIA. “Most were very nice and many returned to Dewey Beach year after year.”

The couple delivers meals for Meals On Wheels from November through April, a way for them to help the community.

In Dewey Beach, Bob sits on the town finance and budget committee, decoration committee and voter eligibility committee. He has declined several requests over the years to run for elected office. Vivian is an election judge in Dewey, and both usually attend town meetings.

But their interests are not limited to Dewey Beach. In 1999, Bob and Vivian were instrumental in founding the Historic Lewes Cat Society that led the effort in Lewes to rescue feral or unwanted cats in town. Each homeless cat they rescued was neutered and vaccinated, and each was found a new home with caring people.

This past May, Bob and Vivian responded to a letter to the editor in the Cape Gazette and started the Kitty Corner Clinic, which provides low-cost spay and neuter services to cats and a monthly rabies clinic for both dogs and cats that also provides microchip identification to the pets.

The couple spearheaded an effort last year to create Sunset Park at the bayside end of Dagsworthy Street in Dewey Beach. Through their work enlisting $11,000 in civic group and personal contributions, they transformed an overgrown and trash littered quarter-acre into a pleasant park with a gazebo and benches.

A cancer survivor, Vivian is the Queen Mum of the local Red Hat Society, “The Godiva Divas.” Using Bob and Vivian’s idea this year, The Godiva Divas arranged a Return Day Train trip from the historic Queen Anne railroad station on King’s Highway in Lewes to downtown Georgetown. To make the day even more memorable, Highway One LLP principal partner Alex Pires has loaned the group the Ruddertowne trolley to use as a Return Day parade entry.

“Vivian is the planner, organizer and impetus for all these activities we do,” explains Bob. “I just follow along.”

His workload will increase substantially next year as he takes over as president of the local AARP branch and the Delmarva Central Intelligence Retirement Association.

“We really love this area,” says Bob. “But no matter how involved we get or how long we live here, we’ll never be natives. People tell me to be a native Sussex countian, you must come from four generations of farmers. We don’t qualify.”