RICHMOND, Va. — Dr. Danielle Spencer, known to millions as "Dee" from the '70s sitcom "What's Happening!!" passed away Monday night in Richmond at the age of 60 after battling gastric cancer.
While many remember her for her groundbreaking role as the youngest female child in a sitcom to be inducted into the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Richmond residents knew a different side of Spencer — a veterinarian, community member, and inspiration to many.
"Such a wonderful, bright and warm soul, just just sad to see her transition," said Rev. Marcus Martin, pastor of New Bridge Baptist Church.
Spencer's brother Jeremy Pelt shared that she "was a very loving spirit who fought courageously until the very end."
Her pastor remembers her as someone who made time for everyone she met.
"She actually always took time to talk to people, always took time to greet people and to talk to people," Martin said.
This wasn't Spencer's first health battle. In 2014, she opened up about her breast cancer diagnosis on CBS6.
Despite her fame, Spencer chose Richmond as her home for her final decade, where she frequently appeared on WTVR CBS 6's "Virginia This Morning" and became deeply involved in the community.
"She showed up with a determination to live life, no matter what the cards may have dealt her, no matter what situation may have been," Martin said. "She continued to just fight and to and to go forward."
Spencer documented her life's challenges in her memoir, "Through The Fire," which her pastor describes as "a journal of her as a childhood star and some of the crisis or the accidents that befell her, but how she was able to press forward."
"We become consumed by the fire. But we go through the fire and we're made better," Martin said.
Beyond her acting career, Spencer made an impact as a veterinarian and community member in Richmond.
"For Richmond, it's going to be an impact of a person who loved humanity and who loved creation, animals and things of that nature," Martin said. "She'll be remembered fondly by everyone whom she's encountered."
Martin reflected on Spencer's legacy: "She attained greatness and childhood stardom, but she also attained greatness in living like the rest of us live an ordinary life, and that that ordinary life is special, and that ordinarily, life is a blessing from God and can be a blessing to others. And I think she lived her life trying to be a blessing to others, and she was indeed, in the life and the history of our church and our faith community, she was a blessing."
"I hope our impact on her was as greatest on her as her impact was on us," he said.
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