A 90-year-old woman completes her graduation 71 years later

By Team CG
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January 04, 2023
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After 71 years, a 90-year-old woman received her graduation degree. In 1951, Joyce DeFauw entered the University of Illinois to earn a degree in economics, but fate had other plans for her. She met a young man at church who she fell in love with.

Joyce shared that after meeting her life partner, she dropped out of college and started a new life. In 1955, she got married for the first time, with whom she had three children, but five years later, her husband passed away.

Eventually, she remarried Roy DeFauw, her second husband. They had six children together, including two sets of twins.

Since then, her family has expanded, and she now has 17 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.

DeFauw showed interest in pursuing the college education she left behind in 2019.

After encouragement from her children, she enrolled back at Northern Illinois and began taking classes.

Instead of walking to campus to attend class, she did so behind a computer screen from her retirement home; and her children had to teach her how to use a computer.

Joyce expressed gratitude for having the opportunity to complete her studies and get her degree.

“It’s nice to finish something you started,” she told CNN.