Margaret Thome Bekema, aged 97, is proof that it’s never too late. She never graduated from Grand Rapids Catholic Central High like she was supposed to, because she was forced to drop out four years earlier in 1932 to take care of her siblings and her mother who was sick with cancer.
But now, 79 years later, Margaret has received an honorary high school diploma. Here she is bursting into tears when she was presented with her graduation cap.
“I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Bekema told Mlive. “I had to quit school to take over the family. It was hard, you have no idea how hard that was.”
“I loved high school and I had lots of friends.”
Central Principal Greg Deja, who presented Margaret with her diploma, said: “Her life has been one of sacrifice and service. It has been so encouraging and inspiring for our community because her choices represent all the core values that we teach our students.”
Margaret’s diploma is dated at when she would have graduated, in 1936.
Watch the touching moment below:
