“She fought very, very hard for what she thought was best in Dewey,” Bob told the crowd gathered at the Lighthouse Cove to honor Vivian Saturday, Oct. 24.

The celebration of life drew dozens of friends and family who came together to share memories of Vivian, who passed away Sept. 25 at 72.

Photo albums were spread along a table at the head of the restaurant. Friends took their time among the pictures of Vivian surrounded by a flotilla of bridesmaids on the day of her wedding to Bob. Sun-bleached pictures of Dewey Beach vacations swept by on a nearby laptop screen.

A painted portrait flanked the table, showing Vivian with jet-black curls and bright, intense eyes.

Lewes resident Georgia Leonhart helped organize the event. When she visited Vivian during her last days, Leonhart said, she was lying in bed between an open laptop and a cell phone, busy to the last.

“Vivian lived an extraordinary life,” Leonhart said. “I have never known a woman so committed to so many things.”

Vivan’s friends represented the many facets of her life. Taking the microphone at the celebration were former CIA colleagues, fellow animal activists and Dewey neighbors. West Street resident Anna Legates remembered Barry as an ardent organizer. When Legates and Barry found themselves on the same side of the controversy surrounding Silver Lake in 2004, Barry tasked Legates with retrieving documents from Superior Court in Georgetown.

She was great to work with, Legates said, and an ardent debater. It was hard to keep up, Legates said, never mind compete.

Dewey resident Pat Riordan shared the story of Dolly, the 80-pound dog she helped Barry rescue from a shelter. Dolly had eight puppies, Riordan said, and Vivian was particularly eager to rescue her. It wasn’t until after lugging Dolly into Vivian’s car that Riordan realized her cohort didn’t know where the dog was going. She said Vivian made call after call, finding homes for the puppies as they drove home.

“Vivian never thought anything was impossible,” Riordan said.

CIA retiree Bob Chin said he worked with Vivian on the shadowy side of the agency – clandestine operations.

“We were the folks who prowled the back alleys and jungles of the world,” Chin said.

Because cells of agents were isolated from each other, Chin said he never knew Vivian professionally.

Meeting her outside of the agency, he said, was a singular delight.

“I had no idea this loving woman was as sinister as I was,” he joked. When the laughter quieted, Chin said Vivian was a true patriot.

“She is typical of the great Americans who spend their lives saving you,” he said.

Mayor Rick Solloway said his acquaintance with Vivian was relatively fleeting, but he was inspired and propelled by her devotion to Dewey. After being elected commissioner, Solloway visited a bedridden Vivian.

“She told me, ‘You have a lot of work to do. You still have a ways to go,’” Solloway said.

Bob enjoyed the ceremony. Surrounded by pictures of his wife, he greeted well-wishers and chatted with friends.

“I’m surviving,” he said.

“It was a month yesterday. You need to go on with the day-to-day things in life – you need to pay the bills.”