Funeral arrangements have been announced for Brenda Lovelady Spahn, the founder of The Lovelady Center in Birmingham.

A service of celebration of life for Spahn will take place on Friday, Dec. 27 at 10 a.m. at Church of the Highlands (4700 Highlands Way, Birmingham, AL 35210).

A reception at The Lovelady Center at 7916 2nd Avenue South in Birmingham will immediately follow the celebration of life.

Spahn died Dec. 18. She was 75.

Spahn founded the Lovelady ministry to women in 2004 by inviting seven former inmates of the Tutwiler Prison for Women to live in her home. She later converted the former East End Hospital in East Lake into a residential center to help women rehabilitate and recover, while also housing their children.

The Lovelady Center currently houses 510 women and 100 children, and has an aftercare program that brings the total number to about 750 women it is working with daily, John McNeil, the chairman and chief operating officer for The Lovelady Center, recently told AL.com.

Three years ago, Spahn turned day-to-day leadership of the Lovelady Center over to her daughter, who had been helping her since the beginning of the ministry. Melinda MeGahee now serves as executive director.

“Never in my life did we not have other people living with us that she was trying to help,” MeGahee said. “She was called to do what she did, and she did it well.”