Obituary of Nicole Cavier, 84
Nicole Cavier.
– It is with great sadness that we share the passing of our beloved Nicole Cavier of Paso Robles on Feb. 8, 2023, at the age of 84 years. She was a kind and very loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and wife. Her passing leaves a large hole in all our hearts.
Nicole was born in Orleans, France, on Feb. 7, 1939, to George Cavier and Yvonne Bodereau. She grew up in France along with her brother, Jon Luc, and moved to the United States in 1969. She received her citizenship on September 19, 1980.
Nicole and Dennis met while they were both working for an aerospace company in Torrance, CA, and after dating for a while, they were married on February 28, 1985. They purchased a 1916 California craftsman-style home in San Pedro with a beautiful view of the Los Angeles/San Pedro harbors. They were the third owners of this home and after moving in immediately began remodeling and updating the house, including replacing the foundation, and all the electrical and plumbing.
In Sept. 1997 Nicole and Dennis moved to a house in Paso Robles on what was nine acres of almond orchard. They proceeded to remove what was left of the old almond orchard (planted in 1922) and over a period of four years plant a vineyard of syrah and petite syrah. Known as Almond Hill Vineyard and after the vineyard matured, they started making award-winning wines.
Nicole was a loving mother essentially raising her three daughters by herself while living in southern California. The light of her life has been her grandchildren. As they lived in different locations across the country, during the summers she would have them visit us so the cousins could get to know each other.
When they reached the age of 5+, she would take them in pairs to visit France so they could learn about their grandmother’s heritage.
Nicole loved gardening and had a large garden of five 8 foot X 4 foot raised beds where she raised a large variety of vegetables – lots of tomatoes, herbs, lettuce, spinach, kale, radishes, carrots, squash, peas, beans, potatoes, asparagus. Did we mention tomatoes? Lots of tomatoes. She also loved growing and enjoying a wide variety of flowers, especially sunflowers. Which lead to another love – hummingbirds. There were summers before COVID-19 where she would be feeding up to a hundred of the birds. She would buy sugar in 25-lb bags.
Nicole loved to travel – often visiting her native country, France. Trips to China, Australia, Mexico the Netherlands, and many trips across the United States, including Alaska, and Hawaii, rounded out her travels.
She was quite a successful graphic artist and businesswoman. While working for a large aerospace company in southern California, where she would silk screen printed wiring boards for military and space electronic equipment, During that time, she also had a successful business (Coastline Impressions) silk screening prototype items for the RV industries and promotional items for shoe companies (Sketchers) and small commercial businesses She designed and screened logos on polo and T-shirts for many types of business. In the early years of the business, she recruited her daughters to help. When we moved to Paso Robles in 1997, she sold her screening business. But it wasn’t long before she opened and operated a B&B in our home. We were able to meet many wonderful people and enjoyed their company.
Nicole is survived by her husband Dennis Van Westerhuyzen, her three daughters, Carole Simpson, Linda Spansel, Annette Yeargan and her husband John, step-son David Van Westerhuyzen and his wife Marilena, step-daughter Joelle Van Westerhuyzen and her partner Rebecca; grandchildren Nicole Simpson-Weisenstein and her husband Kyle, David Simpson and his wife Laura, Sabrina Spansel and her partner Rebecca, Scotty (who proceeded her in death), and Zack Yeargan and three great-grandchildren
Currently, we are planning a Celebration of Life event for the spring.
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