Family and friends gathered at the Southeast Community Center on August 3 for a surprise birthday party. Queen Jean observed her 75th birthday as a special celebration gift coordinated by her children, Cris Vansandt Clark, Jennifer Spinks, Lucretia Smith and Althea Lee.

The room was decorated in purple, gold and ivory. Jean wore an ivory-colored jumpsuit and entered the room by peeking in slowly. To her ultimate surprise, she found a room filled with friends and family there to celebrate her as queen for the evening.

“Seeing her face when she walked into the room was priceless,” said her daughter, Althea Lee.

Surrounded by her kids, grandkids, neighbors, long-time family and friends, ‘Queen Jean’ quickly adjusted to the attention while they celebrated with dinner provided by Courtney’s in Mt. Juliet and words of affection led by Althea.

“We wanted to show her how special we think she is,” Althea said. “She spends her life nurturing, helping, and caring for others and is a giver to the core. The past year has been pretty tough. We thought this would be a great way to show her how much she is loved.”

As a retiree from a career in childcare, Queen Jean never stopped engaging in one of her favorite pastime pleasures—dancing! The evening continued with music, provided by Black & Tan Media. Some of her other favorite past times are shopping, phone games, socializing and going to grandkid’s’ activities.

Although she and the family had a pretty tough year, Jean is a firm believer that “God will make a way—just trust Him.”

Also included in the celebration was a beautiful table with a birthday cake complete with a gold crown and other sweet treats.

Cake and cupcakes were provided by Alesia Philips with cookies by Tiff’s Treats.