Grace Lee McClure-Smith is celebrating a big accomplishment: receiving her high school diploma after a 79-year hiatus.
The graduation ceremony at Hazel Green High School in Alabama was filled with great-grandchildren, siblings and other family members cheering on Grace Lee as she accepted her diploma.
“I am so grateful. Thank you so much. It's better late than never, isn't it."
The 94-year-old woman from Madison County, Alabama, dropped out of school in 1942 at 16 years old, so her husband could fight in World War II.
Grace went on to work as a bus driver for the Madison County school system for 30 years and still recognizes most of the people she drove.
“I am so grateful. Thank you so much. It’s better late than never, isn’t it,” Grace told news outlet WAAY-TV.
Although she sacrificed the chance to complete her own education at 16, she always emphasized the importance of learning to her family.
“She drove me actually on the school bus, so I rode with her to and from school. And she always encouraged me to go to school, make sure I finish school, and now she encourages my girls,” her granddaughter, Erin Wilson, told WAAY-TV.
According to Wilson, Grace might take a graduation trip now that she has secured her diploma.
“She never ever mentioned regretting anything in life. She would never take it back because she absolutely loved my grandfather and that was just what she wanted to do, but I think this was very important to her,” Wilson said.
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