Joan Gaeta's husband and their five kids threw her a party Saturday night.

Her photos greeted guests by the front entrance. Tall vases with calla lilies graced the tables. The dance floor was ready for action.

Becky Stein/Special (ENLARGE)

Daughter Theresa Andretta(background) prints out more photos of her late mother, Joan Gaeta, for the room.

Becky Stein/Special (ENLARGE)

Joan Gaeta's daughter, Christina Pink, puts a stack of programs on a table by the family photo before the 'Dancing for Joan' benefit.

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She would have loved it.

Not long after the lifelong nonsmoker died at 68 from lung cancer in July, her family started talking about an event in her memory.

A dance, they decided, would be fitting, as Joan and her husband, Richard, ruled the dance floor any time there was a party.

The family wanted to raise money for lung cancer research and awareness about the disease, which the national Lung Cancer Alliance says will kill nearly twice as many women as breast cancer this year.

A relative in the public relations business offered some guidance. Joan's doctor and other high-profile guests signed on. Before you knew it, the "Dancing for Joan" benefit had come together.

"We are not 'society' types," said her son Joe Gaeta. "We are a slightly upper-middle-class suburban Atlanta family. This type of thing is foreign to us."

They were expecting a crowd of 200 at the Pavilion of East Cobb and had already raised $25,000 for the Joan Gaeta Lung Cancer Foundation before the event began. Auction items included jewelry, resort stays, rounds of golf, a wine tasting and one of Joan's own watercolor paintings.

"She was very humble," said daughter Maria Cressler. "She would have had a hard time being the honoree."

Throughout the planning, the siblings had frequent — and loud — conference calls to go over details.

"The level of volume was incredible," laughed daughter Christina Pink. "We're Italian, after all. Fortunately, we all agreed on everything."

At this, the other siblings roared with laughter.

"She's being very sarcastic," Joe said.

Richard Gaeta silenced them with a wave of his hand.

"She would just enjoy this like you wouldn't believe," he said.

He and his wife of nearly 47 years grew up in Ossining, N.Y., where they met in eighth grade. By sophomore year, he knew she was the one. She went to Bates College in Maine, he to St. Bonaventure University in New York. They dated throughout college and married in the fall of 1960 after graduating that spring.

They moved to Georgia in 1975, retiring to Hiawassee in 1996.

"Friends and family called her the dancing queen," Richard Gaeta said.

The honorary chairman of "Dancing for Joan" was Dr. Paul J. Scheinberg, Joan's pulmonologist. Dr. Deborah Morosini, sister of the late Dana Reeve, lung cancer victim and widow of actor Christopher Reeve, served as master of ceremonies.

The event honored Edward and Linda Levitt, founders of the Lung Cancer Alliance of Georgia; and Bonnie J. Addario, founder of the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation.

The five siblings, who all live in metro Atlanta, and their dad say "Dancing for Joan" will be an annual event. Wading through the logistics of a 200-person gala as social neophytes, Pink said she wished more than once that she could ask her mother for advice.

"I want to call her and say, 'You should see what we're doing,' " Pink said.

"If she was going to be proud of anything, it was that we pulled it off," Cressler added. "We're still grieving. It's only been seven months. We knew we needed more time, but it's kept us moving forward. It's kept Mommy alive for us."