OCEAN CITY — Maybe you’ve seen her and it has brightened your day.
Ro Rixon is a fixture on the boardwalk at 23rd Street, where she sits on a bench, waving and talking to walkers, runners and bikers passing by in the morning. For the past four summers, she has greeted thousands of people while dressed to the nines, her hair and makeup perfect.
“I love the boardwalk and the people and it’s perfect for kids,” she said. “And the people are so friendly.”
Rixon said she enjoys the spot on the boardwalk because “there is always something going on,” pointing to the many bicyclists entering and exiting the ramp.
She has been visiting America’s Greatest Family Resort for more than 50 years. The 94-year-old is a longtime volunteer at the thrift shop at St. Damian’s Parish and another in Boca Raton, Fla., where she spends half the year.
Since her husband of nearly 70 years, Paul Rixon, died four years ago, the mother of five has been walking to the boardwalk nearly daily, where she sits and waits for her daughters to stroll to the north end and back, and has gathered a following.
“She has people that take pictures of her because she is always dressed like a model in a black or white turtleneck,” daughter Marti Rixon Smith said. “One man brings her a flower every day, one man brings her ice cream from his store in upstate Pennsylvania.”
“Little by little people would stop and talk to her all the time,” daughter Lisa Rixon Baumann said. “She’s developed this group of friends that we don’t even known.”
While she can no longer play tennis or do push-ups — she gave up doing both when she was 90 — she keeps busy with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who all gather at her place each summer.
Her son Paul Rixon III, 69, lives in Petersburg and owns Rixon Realty in Upper Township, but the others live out of state. Mark Rixon, 67, lives in Colorado; Sue Webb, 65, in Falls Church, Va.; Marti Smith, 63, in Fairfax, Va.; and Lisa Baumann, 61, in West Chester, Pa.
She spoke with a reporter Aug. 22, the fourth anniversary of the passing of her husband, while Baumann got some exercise on a beautiful day following four of the not-so-beautiful variety.
“I just sit here every day, it’s not like it’s a story for the paper,” Rixon said. “Every morning I sit here unless it rains. I could sit home and read a book, but this is so much nicer to see all the people, especially today. The sun’s out, so everybody’s coming up.”
Since it rained most of the week prior, she spent more time with her great-grandchildren at the library and fitness center and read — she finishes about eight books a week, mostly of the beach read variety.
Born May 27, 1931, Rosemary grew up in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia, where she attended the Academy of Sisters of Mercy, and later met her husband to be at Bayshores night club in Somers Point.
Paul Rixon graduated and enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard, serving in World War II and Korea. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
They got married in 1955 and moved to Broomall and Merion Station, Pa., before moving to New York, where Paul worked at Rockefeller Center. After that they moved to Cherry Hill until finally making it to Ocean City.
They had a duplex but ran out of room as the family continued to grow, eventually buying a single at 29th Street and Haven Avenue. They ultimately tore down a duplex on 23rd Street and built a new one with eight bedrooms, enough to accommodate the younger generations.
“We all live together, four generations are there,” she said.
Ro believes being active and social are the keys to her longevity. She played tennis from the time she was 40 until she was 90, Paul often joining her in mixed doubles. The team that she was part of for 45 years continues to meet every Tuesday for dinner and drinks.
In addition, she lives on the second floor and walks up 21 steps a couple of times a day.
“I have good knees and good hips, I don’t have anything broken,” she said.
Rixon also plays Wordle every day and finishes a couple of crossword puzzles, as well as reading news on her iPad.
Speaking of iPads, she said her nine grandchildren can’t imagine a world without modern technology. She noted how when she was a girl there was a telephone at the corner store and when someone called, the proprietor would send a kid off to get the recipient.
Her advice for the younger generations?
“Smile and enjoy your life, it goes so fast and you really have to take every day as it is,” she said.
– By CRAIG S. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
