Vista Death Cafe

The Vista Death Cafe meets in person at 1 PM on the second Wednesday of every month. The Vista Death Cafe started in August 2025.  Despite having to coordinate schedules with the very active Vista senior community, Mel McClave eventually found a time and space to accommodate all.

Do you have an interest in the subject of dying and death? Are you looking for a safe space to share your thoughts, ask questions, and hear what others say? At this Death Cafe, we welcome all opinions and topics, provided they follow a few rules that keep the discussions safe and accessible. You are certainly welcome to join us for quality conversations around dying and death.

The purpose of this Death Cafe is “ to increase awareness of death to help people make the most of their finite lives.” We use this time to discuss dying and death with no expectations, agendas, themes, or promotions.

Death Cafes are a worldwide phenomenon.  Jon Underwood launched and hosted Death Cafes in London from 2011 until his death from cancer in 2017. He modeled them after Swiss sociologist Bernard Crettaz’s “Café Mortale.” In 2012, Lizzy Miles hosted the first Death Cafe in the US in Columbus, Ohio.

Volunteers host Death Cafes and DeathCafe.com, and they are always FREE to attend.  The guidelines that govern Death Cafes are the vision of Jon Underwood to keep the conversation welcoming and free from personal debate. Attending Death Cafes allows you to enter a space created for exchanging ideas without the pressure of conforming.  Some Death Cafes ask for donations. Consequently, if you feel the need to donate, please donate directly to this Death Cafe or directly to DeathCafe.com.

Learn more about Mel’s five years of experience as a Death Cafe host and the Death Cafes she hosts, here.