Jacquee Belcher
Terri and Toni Belcher
Jacquee loves yellow, anything lemon, suspense thrillers, and playing cards and games. Her favorite male singer is Nat King Cole, and her favorite female singer is Nancy Wilson.
Jacquee Belcher is now officially a nonagenarian. She celebrated at a surprise 90th birthday party in the Copper Room at the QC Madera clubhouse filled with over 60 family, friends, and neighbors. Some traveled over 1,500 miles to celebrate this amazing woman, including one of Jacquee’s students from Lane College in Eugene, Ore., from over 50 years ago. And, yes, she was totally surprised!
At age 90, Jacquee Belcher is still a force of nature. Her smile disarms. Her intellect challenges. And her nature is fun loving. Jacquee was celebrated as a loving wife, supportive mother, loyal friend, and professional muse and inspiration across many fields and industries.
At her surprise 90th birthday celebration, Jacquee was also lauded for her accomplishments, including as valedictorian of Bartlett High School in St. Joseph, Mo.; her graduation from Marymount College School of Nursing at the top of her class in Topeka, Kan.; her meteoric rise as a hospital administrator in Anchorage, Alaska; Lincoln, Neb.; Minot, N.D.; and Eugene, Ore.; and her master’s degree in the innovative field of psych-social nursing from the University of Washington. Later, she successfully transitioned into higher leadership roles in the field of education, with the completion of her law degree at the University of Puget Sound in Washington State.
At the height of her career, Jacquee became an internationally acclaimed college president (Minneapolis, Minn., and Atlanta, Ga.), including travel to Japan to speak at an international conference and the introduction of the President of the United States at a national conference on education. Jacquee co-founded the Kaleidoscope Leadership Institute, LLC, which continues today. Her career success fueled her decade-long consulting practice in leadership as principal of Options Unlimited, LLC. And she was inducted into the Rockdale, Ga., Hall of Fame.
Many stories were shared throughout the celebration of her 90th birthday including:
• Jacquee’s colleague crediting Jacquee as responsible for her reaching her goal to be a college president,
• A high school friend remembering how Jacquee led the school marching band as a drum major,
• The chairperson of her master’s program proclaiming her as his most promising student, and
• Her twin daughters playfully remembering Jacquee dropping a cake they had won as little girls participating in an old-fashioned cake walk.
The elegant jazz nightclub-inspired evening was made special with delicious appetizers from Quail Creek Catering ([email protected]), fanciful balloon displays from A Delightful Affair ([email protected]), and soulful Motown songs by Joe Borne ([email protected]), a well-known musical artist who sang standards from Nat King Cole, Lou Rawls, Nancy Wilson, and other Motown legends throughout the evening.
The evening was a perfect gathering of family, friends, and neighbors to celebrate the trailblazer, wise, powerful, creative, champion, loyal friend that is Jacquee Belcher—a woman of 90 years who has always walked her own path.