‘So thrilled.’ 100th birthday surprise for former Columbus city manager’s widow
Friends and family gathered Tuesday at the Wynn House in Columbus to celebrate Lucile Lambert’s centennial.
“You made it,” quipped Lambert’s younger sister, 85-year-old Mary Cunard, as Lambert entered the grand dining room to rapturous applause.
Lambert was born June 9, 1926, in Hayleville, Alabama. Her family moved to Columbus in the 1940s, and she has been a member of St. Luke Church since then.
Lambert worked for Central Georgia Railroad and Pound Construction in Columbus. She is the widow of former city manager Frank Lambert, who served in the role between 1971 and 1986.
Dianne Ross, Lambert’s granddaughter, said she had been planning this surprise since Lambert turned 99. Placing her left hand atop Lambert’s shoulder and with “tears of joy” welling in her eyes, Ross spoke about her grandmother before the lunch began.
“Gran Cile has a servant’s heart,” Ross said during her speech to the party’s attendees. “She served on too many committees for me to even name, volunteered in just as many. She always wants to help.”
While her husband was city manager, Lambert planned events for the Boys & Girls Club, Columbus Botanical Garden, Historic Columbus Foundation, Keep Columbus Beautiful and Audubon Society, highlighting her dedication and service to the community.
During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lambert compiled a three-volume scrapbook of news headlines and articles so future generations, including her great-granddaughter Leah, could understand what life was like during those historical moments. Lambert donated her work to the Columbus State University Archives five years ago on her 95th birthday.
Ross told the Ledger-Enquirer her time spent with Lambert is always filled with energy and laughter.
“I have to stop and remember she’s 100, but when I’m with her, she doesn’t feel 100 at all,” Ross said.
Party attendees received gift bags filled with some of Lambert’s favorite things: a packet of lemon tea, a piece of chocolate and a bookmark decorated with scripture and a drawing of a bluebird box. The bags also contained a Ring Pop — not because the wearable candy ranks among lemon tea and chocolate in Lambert’s eyes, but because as the daughter of a jeweler, she has always had an appreciation for fine things.
“She’s more precious than rubies,” Ross said during her speech.
Lambert told the Ledger-Enquirer she was “so surprised and so thrilled” with the gathering in her honor. Reflecting on reaching this milestone, Lambert said one of the key lessons she has learned about life is to constantly form new connections.
“Meeting new people,” Lambert said. “Making new friends, and trying to remember the names of the old ones.”
Sitting across from her older sister with a big smile on her face, Cunard joked Lambert’s 100th birthday made her “feel very old.”
“I’m happy she made it,” Cunard told the Ledger-Enquirer. “Our mother did too, and she said she had to keep up with mother.”
In addition to throwing the surprise party, Ross also drove Lambert down “memory lane” Tuesday, passing by her former school and places of work and capturing the legacy her grandmother has built in the city.
“If anybody could be the picture of Columbus, it would be Lucile,” Ross said.
