Danielle Spencer has been laid to rest.
The late “What’s Happening!!” star, who passed away on Aug. 11 at the age of 60, was honored during a private funeral service in Virginia on Thursday, Aug. 21.
“Yesterday in Richmond, I had the honor of remembering Dr. Danielle Spencer — known to the world as the hilarious ‘Dee’ from ‘What’s Happening’ — but to me, she was my sweet girlfriend and schoolmate when we were just 12 and 13,” actress Holly Robinson Peete revealed on Instagram Friday, Aug. 22.
“I will never forget her kindness, her grace and her strength through life’s many challenges,” the “21 Jump Street” star, 60, added.
Peete, meanwhile, also shared a carousel of photos from Spencer’s emotional celebration of life.
Other guests in attendance included Spencer’s “What’s Happening!!” co-star Haywood Nelson, as well as her close acting friends Kim Fields and Ralph Carter.
“Being with her family and loved ones — her brother Jeremy, her co-star Haywood Nelson, her friends Kim Fields, Ralph Carter and her beautiful mother Cheryl — and sharing in the love of those who were with her in her final moments is something I will cherish forever,” Peete continued.
“Rest in heavenly peace, Danielle,” she ended the touching post. “You will always be remembered with so much love.”
The beloved sitcom star sadly passed away following a lengthy battle with breast cancer, which she was diagnosed with in 2014.
Nelson, who co-starred with Spencer on “What’s Happening!!” as Dwayne Clemens Nelson, was the first to announce the shocking news.
“Brilliance! It comes in a great many forms. We all have them, and we all have this family’s — Dr. Danielle Spencer (June 24, 1965 – August 11, 2025),” he wrote on Instagram one day after Spencer’s passing.
“Dr. Dee, our brilliant, loving, positive, pragmatic warrior, without fail, has finally found her release from the clutches of this world and a body,” Nelson, 65, continued. “We celebrate Danielle Spencer and her contributions as we regret to inform her departure and transition from a long battle with cancer.”
Spencer was best known for her role as Dee Thomas, the sassy younger sister of the Thomas family, in “What’s Happening!!,” which aired on ABC from 1976 to 1979.
The cast also included Ernest Thomas (Raj Thomas), Fred Berry (Freddie “Rerun” Stubbs), Mabel King (Mabel “Mama” Thomas) and Shirley Hemphill (Shirley Wilson).
The then-child star later reprised the role as Dee for the sitcom’s sequel series, “What’s Happening Now!!,” which aired from 1985 to 1988.
Spencer detailed her experience as a child star in her 2010 memoir, “Through the Fire … Journal of a Child Star,” which was released 15 years before her heartbreaking passing.
Fields, another child star famous for her roles as Tootie Ramsey on “The Facts of Life” and as Regine Hunter on “Living Single,” remembered her late friend during the private funeral service Thursday.
“Had the honor of speaking today, celebrating her life,” Fields, 56, wrote on Instagram alongside a video of a digital marquee honoring Spencer. “Our intersecting began pre everything. New York days.”
“Dani left acting and became a successful veterinarian,” she continued. “DOCTOR Danielle Spencer. Thank you for your continued support, love and respect.”
The Post has reached out to Spencer’s former rep for comment.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
