Former Judge Mabel Peterson yells “happy birthday to me” at her birthday party Saturday night.(Meredith Spencer The Vicksburg Post)

[11/1/04]”Happy birthday to me,” Judge Mabel Peterson said to more than 100 friends and family Saturday night as they celebrated her 80th birthday, which is Tuesday.

Peterson, who drives a Cadillac with “Judge P” on her tag, was the first black justice court judge in Warren County. She sat on the bench for 20 years, where she was known for being both stern and compassionate, until she retired in 2000. She has also been a member of Jackson Street Missionary Baptist Church for more than 50 years.

She was described by her grandson as the “definition of love” and by many others as “bossy.”

Peterson nodded her head in agreement as friends and family came up to speak about her at the Jackson Street Missionary Baptist Church gymnasium on Main Street. Bossy or not, Peterson said she has always treated everyone the same.

“As a judge, I was colorblind I treated everyone with respect,” she said.

Jennifer Harper of the Senior Citizen’s Center, where Peterson exercises four times a week and plays bean-bag baseball, said the former judge has earned the respect she receives and retirement hasn’t changed anything.

“She still gets that respect as if she is still a judge,” she said, “It’s just her air she is Your Honor.'”

Peterson was surprised by the number of smiling faces awaiting her for the celebration, she said. But this was not a surprise party, daughter Robbie Ware said.

“You won’t surprise her,” Ware said.

Dennis Holmes, Peterson’s son, said his mother cares about people and tries to help, which is why they wanted to celebrate her life.

Ware and Holmes, along with Peterson’s granddaughter-in-law, Johnnie B. Ware, and others, had been planning the party for about three months, Ware said. Because they knew the party would draw a large crowd, they even advertised it in the newspaper and on the radio.

Fellow church member Mother T.P. Williams, neighbor Katie Mae Jones and her oldest friend, Birdie Spencer, all stood up to tell stories.

“One thing about Mabel Peterson is that she wants to be right all of the time,” Jones said. “When they made her a judge I thought that’s what they should have made her.”

Peterson’s granddaughter, Tracy Holmes, said she swapped her normal attire flip-flops and a T-shirt for more formal clothes just to look nice for her “Mamaw” on her birthday, she said.

Great-grandchildren and godchildren presented Peterson with roses, and those who could not make it sent letters and cards, which were read by Rosie Harris, the mistress of ceremonies for the evening.

“I had no idea I had so many people in Vicksburg who loved me,” Peterson said toward the end of the presentations and tributes. “The tears just went to falling when I walked in this room.”