Sixty women in a church basement had never been so quiet.

And then — “Surprise!” — they yelled as Virginia White walked into the crowd gathered Saturday to celebrate her 80th birthday.

“I thought I was in the wrong place,” she said after catching her breath and wiping away a few tears.

More than 100 women were invited to the event at United Methodist Church, where the basement was decked in purple and lavender. A hired photographer dashed around snapping pictures. A harpist provided music.

“This is like Miss America,” White said.

White, who will turn 80 on April 19, said she had never suspected a party was in the works during the months of planning by her family and friends.

And that’s just how her daughter, Phoenix resident Sheryl Stewart, wanted it.

“She’s always made our birthdays special, and I wanted to do something special for hers,” Stewart said.

She remembered that when she was in fourth grade her mom threw a taffy-pulling party for Stewart’s friends.

“I remember it got stuck in the piano keys,” Stewart said.

Virginia White, Eudora, right, got a shock when she walked into a room full of female friends and relatives for a surprise 80th birthday party. White's relatives Angie Passman, Overland Park, left, and Peggy Williams-Thomas, Arkansas City, greeted her with hugs Saturday at the United Methodist Church.

And years later, when she was in her 30s and couldn’t choose between two kinds of birthday cake, her mom made them both.

“Birthdays are special for us,” explained White, who lived for years in Lawrence but recently moved to Eudora.

Guests traveled to the party from as far away as Oklahoma and Texas, although many were longtime local friends who knew White from her church circle and bridge club.

“I just can’t believe there’s so many groups of friends here today,” White said.

And equally worthy of disbelief was that none of them had let the secret slip.

“She was so clueless,” Stewart said. “I called her last night from the hotel and she thought I was in Phoenix.”