Story outline
- Joyce DeFauw, 90, graduated from Northern Illinois University on Sunday.
- She is one of the oldest to graduate from college.
- She enrolled in what was then the Northern Illinois State Teachers College in 1951, but later dropped out.
DeKalb, Illinois (wagon) — My 90-year-old great-grandmother graduated from college on Sunday.
It was a historic moment in 70 years for Joyce DeFauw as she walked across the stage to earn her college degree at Northern Illinois University.
She is one of the oldest huskies to graduate from college.
“There is so much going on that it is almost impossible to understand and accept it all,” says DeFauw. “amazing.”
She first entered what was then the Northern Illinois State Teachers College in 1951.
DeFauw started as an early elementary major, then majored in home economics, then learned German, typing, and bookkeeping.
“But just in case. There were certainly attractive young men in my church,” she said. “And apparently it was mutually beneficial as we decided to get together, after which I decided to quit school.”
Her husband died and she remarried. In total, she had nine children.
In life, she never forgot school.
“Apparently the kids said they wished I had told them. I wish I had finished,” Defau said. “And they thought, you don’t have to do anything. I think you’re right. So I decided to go back. But I needed a computer.”
They acquired her and in 2019 she re-enrolled at NIU.
She completed classes online from a retirement community living in Geneseo, Illinois.
“Well, I was assigned a class, but I also wanted to quit,” Defoe said. “But I was like, uh, don’t give up now because you’re so close. was.”
She was given a scholarship to cross the finish line. Her faculty and staff inspired her, saying she learned as much from her as she learned from them.
DeFauw, 90, is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in General Studies. You’re never too old to finish what you started, she said.
“There is so much to learn, life is so exciting, and we are all endowed with different talents,” she said. And just keep going.”
