Woman, 102, finally gets her college degree....SIX DECADES after enrolling at Kentucky university

Woman, 102, finally gets her college degree....SIX DECADES after enrolling at Kentucky university

A 102-year-old woman has finally received her college degree - nearly 60 years after she first began her studies.

Cecelia 'Dolly' Mischel Boarman was 42 years old when she enrolled at Brescia University in Owensboro, Kentucky in 1957, hoping to complete her degree in Education.

Dolly was only a few hours away from completing her degree, but she had to leave Brescia College, as it was known at the time, before she completed the process.

That's what Tracy Naylor, the Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Brescia, found out while talking to Dolly's daughter about a planned visit with alumni who lived in Arizona.

Cecelia 'Dolly' Mischel Boarman, 102, has finally received her degree from Brescia University in Owensboro, Kentucky, nearly six decades after she first enrolled in the school

Jovita Boarman Fine, who graduated from Brescia in 1966, revealed to Naylor that she had actually taken classes at the school with her mother, who now lives with her in Prescott.

Naylor said she was at a 'loss for words' when she found out Dolly was 102 years old.

'I started doing the math in my head,' Naylor told Brescia's website. 'I immediately checked her transcripts and calculated her credits'.

Naylor then asked Sr Cheryl Clemons, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, if she could surprise Dolly with a degree during her Arizona visit. Clemons immediately agreed.

'It was one of the best things I've had the opportunity (of doing) during my career,' Naylor said.

Dolly was awarded an Associate of Arts Honoris Casua, an honorary degree. She is now Brescia University's oldest living alumna, according to the Messenger-Inquirer.

'I am so thrilled to finally get a diploma after all these years,' she said.

Dolly graduated from high school in 1931. Completing enough credits at Brescia to teach, she was a full-time teacher in the Catholic school system for 11 years before retiring and serving as a substitute.

She lived in Owensboro until 2009, aged 96, when she moved to Prescott to live with her daughter.

Jovita said the degree has excited the entire family.

'We've been telling everybody about it,' she said. 'It was really nice of them to do it.'

Original article and pictures take www.dailymail.co.uk site