Jean, Floyd enjoy ‘90-club’ front-yard birthdays
Jean McFadden, who lives in Kingsgate, celebrated her 90th birthday Sunday, May 3.
Many of her family and friends, equipped with signs and balloons, threw her a front yard party on that sunny day.
“It was a surprise,” said her son, Greg McFadden, who also lives in Kingsgate. “She cried. By the time it was over, there must have been around 100 people who came to wish her a happy birthday.”
Jean’s husband, Bill McFadden, passed away several years ago. In addition to Greg, she has four other children, 10 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
Just three days later, Floyd Cooper of Thornton Heights turned 95 on Wednesday, May 6. The World War II vet enjoyed a visit from his cousin, JoAnn Sims, also of Farragut, who had tried to plan a group celebration, which was thwarted by unseasonably cold weather.
Signs were placed in Floyd’s yard, wishing him a happy birthday, and he waved an American Flag at friends who drove by.
Floyd, a Concord native, is the son of the late Minnie and Carl Cooper. Following the war, in which he was a paratrooper, Floyd moved to Florida, where he was a security guard. Later in life he came back to Farragut to take care of his mother and began painting for a living, his daughter, Melissa Cooper, said.
He and his late wife, Helen Marie Cooper, have four sons and three daughters. He also has 18 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren.
