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…