50 Year Resident of Rio Del Mar

Vivian “Viv” Neasham, 40-year resident of Rio del Mar’s Beach Island and founder of the landmark Pixie Plaza Deli, passed away December 29, 2024, at a care home in La Selva Beach. Viv was 92 years old, and had suffered years of declining health.

Viv was born May 5, 1932 in Sacramento, CA. Her mother Olga Becker was a refugee, brought to the area as a child by parents fleeing the bloodshed of the Russian Revolution. Her father, Charles Compton, came to Sacramento from North Dakota. Viv grew up in modest circumstances, and attended Grant Union High School. Her daughter Cathay was born in 1949, but Cathay’s father soon died in an industrial accident.

Following the death of her close family friend and neighbor Guadalupe Brereton, a young mother of five, Viv married widower George Brereton and raised all five children as her own, together with Cathay. In later years, Vivian recalled attending Guadalupe’s funeral, and feeling powerfully called to care for her friend’s bereft children. The couple married in 1964, and Vivian worked for years at the California Almond Growers as a sorter to provide for her adopted family.

The family continued to live in Sacramento where George worked as an aerospace engineer. But after mass aerospace layoffs following the moon landing, the family decided to follow friends Bob and Lou Umberger to Rio del Mar where they purchased a long-closed liquor and corner grocery store near Rio beach and added a sandwich deli. George gutted the shop, built a kitchen, and Viv took the helm at the resurrected Pixie Plaza Deli, where she worked almost daily from 1972 through 2001. The store was a family affair operated by George and Viv and their three youngest children.

Viv embraced Rio del Mar and the beach lifestyle wholeheartedly, and found her calling in the kitchen. Viv was a self-described ‘feeder’, and a super-taster who could instantly identify ingredients in any dish. The deli was her dream job, and she developed a menu of unique sandwiches including the Big George and the Poor Viv, as well as scratch-made chili, soups, potato salad, and her infamous German Burritos.

The Rio del Mar beach flats was a bit seedy in 1972, with many shabby summer cabins rented to students in the winter. A cadre of scruffy “Rio Rats” populated the beach wall and parking lot, and Viv quickly knew all of their names and life stories. “The Pix” earned a local following, especially by young men in the building trades who appreciated the big sandwiches and Viv’s lively, unfiltered banter. The parking lot of the store became a local gathering place for younger locals every Friday and Saturday night.

In 1974, Viv suffered another wrenching blow when her 25-year-old daughter Cathay died in a car accident. George died in 1981, and in 1984 Viv married Robert Neasham, her fifth and ultimate husband.

Viv lived in Aptos from 1972 until the end of her life. She loved to take her lunch break on the seawall in front of a large brick house on Beach Drive, and one day the house she dreamt of living in had a For Sale sign in the window. Although it was a “fixer upper”, the property seemed absurdly out of reach. But in 1985 Viv and Bob stretched their finances to buy the home and took up residence as two of the very few homeowners to live full-time on Rio del Mar’s Beach Island. Viv lived at the beach full-time for forty years, possibly the only homeowner on the island to claim such a legacy. Bob died in 2014.

Viv was immensely proud that her life’s path led from very modest circumstances to a gracious oceanfront home, where she loved to entertain and savored every sunset. Her home was a family and neighborhood hub, where she befriended generations of families from far and wide who spent their vacations on the Island. Viv could often be found watering her lush beachfront garden, or drinking a Coors Light with vacationers who visited every year and never failed to check in with her.

Viv was a big personality with a big heart, and big, unfiltered opinions. She could be startlingly honest, blunt and combative, and anyone wanting to talk politics could expect a blistering earful. But she was also quick to forgive, and was a constant lifelong support to her friends and family.

Viv lived independently until age 92. During the storms of 2023, Aptos firefighters were asked to do a welfare check when the beach flats had flooded and Viv’s phone had died. They found 90-year-old Viv upstairs, tucked into a recliner and watching the waves, calmly snacking on a giant wedge of cheddar cheese. She flirted with the firefighters (“have I died and gone to Heaven?”), and declined to be rescued. When asked for an update, one firefighter later remarked “Viv is a legend!” True words.

Vivian was predeceased by her daughter Cathay Calebaugh, husband Robert Neasham, and brother Charles “Bud” Compton. She is survived by sister Susan Swain, brother Terry Compton, and children George Brereton (Tricia), Carol Bower (Terry), Rick Brereton, Brad Brereton (Maria), and Robert Brereton, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild; as well as her extended Neasham family including Robin Sanborn, Mitzi Buchanan (Chris), Darin Neasham, and three grandchildren.

A celebration of life will take place in the Spring. If you wish to be notified of the gathering, please send your contact information to Vivian.J.Neasham@gmail.com