The declaration of the governor’s shelter-in-place order may have changed plans for a surprise celebration for one Steward family, but it did not stop the family from wishing a loved one well on her special day.
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The declaration of the governor’s shelter-in-place order may have changed plans for a surprise celebration for one Steward family, but it did not stop the family from wishing a loved one well on her special day.
Plans were in place for 48 family members from seven states — Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Colorado, Arizona and California — to gather on Saturday, March 28 and surprise Darlene King of Steward for her 90th birthday.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 had other plans and the party had to be
In addition to the family video conference on her birthday, family members pre-recorded a video with birthday greetings and the little kids reenacted funny memories shared over the years.
“Mom was so surprised and couldn’t believe that we were all able to be together even though we were not able to actually be together at the farm,” daughter Patti King McDaniel said. “She was fascinated with the technology. And we were able to watch the video together on our video conference.”
Darlene was born and raised in Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada and attended nurses training at Saint Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba. After nurse’s training, she moved to Rochelle and worked as a registered nurse at Rochelle Community Hospital.
She married Louis King in 1956 and together had eight children and watched their family grow to 17 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
“My wonderful family made my 90th birthday a day to remember. It was amazing,” Darlene said. “It was so nice to see all of the family and talk to so many. I can’t believe we spent five hours together. It was like everyone was here but then when it was over everyone was already home.”
