Age doesn’t matter for education. This has been proved again by an inspirational woman 97-year-old who have received an honorary diploma from a Michigan high school, eight decades after she was forced to drop out to help her family financially.
Margaret Thome Bekema was finally able to don a mortarboard and fulfill her lifelong dream in front of her friends and proud family on Thursday. School administrators from Catholic Central High School in Grand Rapids presented her with the diploma at the Yorkshire and Stonebridge Manor senior community in Walker.
Bekema would have graduated with the Class of 1936, but she left during her junior year to care for her three younger siblings due to her mother’s illness.
She said leaving school at age 17 broke her heart and she’s thankful for the recognition.
