Journal photo / Connie Grosch

Amid their hectic week, lawmakers paused on Wednesday to honor state Sen. June N. Gibbs on the occasion of her 85th birthday.

The appropriately named Gibbs was born June 13, 1922.

She is the only lawmaker born in the 1920s. Three — Sen. Roger R. Badeau, D-Woonsocket; Rep. Kenneth Carter, D-North Kingstown; and Rep. Al Gemma, D-Warwick — were born in the 1930s.

Coming to the Senate chamber on Wednesday to wish Gibbs a happy birthday, House Speaker Murphy brought the only centenarian working in the building: the head doorkeeper in the House, Frank DiPaolo, who turned 100 in December. When Murphy mentioned that he would be attending Gibbs’ birthday party, he said DiPaolo responded, “Oh, a younger woman? Can I come over to meet her?”

Gibbs, R-Middletown, a former librarian, was first elected to the Senate in 1984. She is one of four Republicans in the Senate. In 1974, she became also the first woman elected to the Middletown Town Council. In her spare time, the widow and mother of one daughter enjoys windsurfing, according to the resolution passed in her honor.

“Her wealth of knowledge, gentle spirit and overall exuberance for life have blessed the lives of those around her,” the resolution said.

Her colleagues honored her with a cake — she blew out the candles inside the Senate chamber — and the singing of “Happy Birthday.” They also chipped in their personal money for gifts of a memoir book for recording life’s memories and a bracelet from Ross Simons.