CNN
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A 90-year-old woman finally crosses the stage, receive her diploma71 years after she first entered college.
Joyce Defoe, then Joyce Viola Kane, began her freshman year at Northern Illinois University in 1951 with plans to graduate with a degree in Home Economics.
But those plans changed when DeFauw met a special man at church who stole her heart, she told CNN Thursday.
“I went to school for three and a half years, but when I met him I decided to quit,” Defoe said.
A special man was Don Freeman Sr. The two married in 1955, had three children before Freeman died, and remained a widow for about five years.
DeFauw eventually remarried to her late second husband, Roy DeFauw. She fathered six children, including two sets of twins.
Our family has grown over the years and now has 17 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.
Flash forward to 2019 when DeFauw expressed interest in the college education she left behind.
“I think I said I was mad that I didn’t finish school, but my kids encouraged me to go back,” she said, so she went back to Northern Illinois to enroll and I started taking classes.
NIU alumni Jenna Dooley, one of DeFauw’s 17 grandchildren, told CNN that when DeFauw decided to go back, it was “why,” not “why.”
Dooley said that as a child, DeFauw visited her grandmother, a farmer who always made bread and cooked food.
DeFauw was also a Sunday school teacher. “She always had a love of teaching and learning,” she said Dooley.
“When I called the school about previous admissions, I was shocked to hear they were asking about students in their 50s,” says Dooley.
But this time DeFauw’s situation was very different.
Instead of walking to campus to attend class, she did so behind a computer screen in a nursing home.
“It was my first computer,” says DeFauw.
Dooley added that DeFauw’s eldest son, Uncle Don, helped set up the computer, got a camera for the computer, and taught her how to work with school email.
When Covid-19 pandemic has started In 2020, Dooley said she was grateful for computers. “She was already set up online, so it worked out really well for her,” she added.
During that time, she was alone and unable to receive visitors, Dooley said. “At times she was frustrated, but I kept reminding her that this was all part of the process,” she added.
“There were times when I wanted to quit, but I didn’t,” Defoe said. She said she got a lot of encouragement from her family, her friends and school.
DeFauw was greatly helped by Judy Santacaterina, head of the Bachelor’s Program. Ms. Dooley took a role in helping her grandmother get her degree, she said, and her whole family is grateful to her Ms. Santacaterina.
DeFauw took one class each semester, including during the summer. “She’s very organized,” she said Dooley. She wanted to keep taking her classes so as not to stray from that routine. ”
3 years later she cap and gown I’m getting my general bachelor’s degree from college this weekend.
DeFauw is grateful for the opportunity to go back to school and complete her degree. “It’s nice to finish what you started,” she said.
Her advice to anyone who might be in a similar situation: “Don’t give up. I know it can be hard sometimes, but everything in life has its ups and downs.”
“She has a talent for learning and teaching, so it’s the icing on the cake that we’re happy to celebrate this,” Dooley said.
