PORT ANGELES — Nancy Vivolo, a woman friends remember as a ray of light on the music and dance scene, has died.
She was found Monday at her home.
The cause of her death was not known Tuesday.
Friends around the region and co-workers at Clallam Transit, where she worked for 20 years, are left in shock, since Vivolo had just spent the weekend pursuing her beloved activities: dancing and volunteering.
A veteran board member at the Juan de Fuca Foundation for the Arts, Vivolo helped run its “Dancing with the Port Angeles Stars” event as well as the after-party and fundraiser at the Elks Naval Lodge on Saturday night.
Vivolo was known for her boundless good cheer, evidenced by her beaming grin, and for her energy on the dance floor. After exercising weekday mornings at the Clallam County YMCA, she’d go out contra-, tango- and swing-dancing on weekends.
In May 2013, as the Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts was marking its 20th year, Vivolo was setting up at the various venues and “digging every minute of it,” as she said after a long day.
Vivolo suffered from a serious heart condition, said her longtime friend Paul Knowles of Port Angeles.
She had just gone to Seattle for an evaluation, he said, and knew she was going to need surgery.
On Saturday night, Vivolo, estimated to be in her late 50s, was “being her usual cheerful, positive self — something she’s been doing since JFFA’s inception 23 years ago,” said Dan Maguire, executive director of the Juan de Fuca Foundation.
“She was really in her element,” Knowles added.
Vivolo had a bad experience that night, though. Knowles said he and Vivolo enjoyed one dance across the Elks’ ballroom floor, and then she discovered her purse had been stolen.
This was quite upsetting to Vivolo, who has volunteered at scores of concerts and fundraisers over the years.
She left Knowles a voice mail after midnight saying she’d called her credit card company and learned the apparent thief had already incurred some charges.
Knowles’, Maguire’s and Vivolo’s dozens of friends in the arts community were expressing their sadness Tuesday on Facebook.
“Her bright smile and zest for life filled a room,” wrote Paul Stehr-Green, a member of the Joy in Mudville band.
As was her custom, Vivolo danced to the group’s music Friday night at the Metta Room in downtown Port Angeles.
Vivolo had told her friend Carol Pope that she didn’t have her usual energy lately, “but you couldn’t tell from her scheduled activities,” Pope said.
In addition to her work with the Juan de Fuca Foundation, Vivolo volunteered at both the Arts Northwest conferences and at the ArtsWells festival in British Columbia every year.
“The time, effort and love she’s given to JFFA and, for that matter, the whole community cannot be overstated,” Maguire added.
“She was an amazing person and will be deeply missed.”
Vivolo’s family could not be reached Tuesday, and no services have been announced.
A band of musician friends, though, will remember her tonight at the Lazy Moon Craft Tavern, 130 S. Lincoln St.
“Bring your stories, pictures, tons of hugs and your dancing shoes, because we all know how much Nancy loved to dance,” singer and guitarist Ches Ferguson wrote on Facebook, adding that “the hug-a-thon starts around 7:30.”
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.