HAZARD, Ky. (WYMT) - For most college students, it takes four years of hard work to earn a college degree. For Opal Tye, her college diploma was 75 years in the making.
In 1945, Opal Clark was 17 years old. She lived in an orphanage in Cedartown Georgia. Her parents died when she was just a toddler.
“She said that she was very well cared for. She had to work there and went to school,” said Opal’s granddaughter, Josyln Flynn.
During her senior year of high school, a special gust came to visit the orphanage, Dr. Conway Boatman, the President of Union College.
“He said, ‘Is there anyone here who is athletic and smart’ and she said that she raised her hand and said ‘I’m both,‘” said Flynn.
Opal found herself on a train to Barbourville to attend Union College on a full scholarship. She was also a cheerleader.
“She loved campus and campus loved her,” said Flynn.
She met her husband, Herman Mitchell Tye while a student. The two married early in 1949 and she left school months before graduation.
“In those days when you married you left school,” said Flynn.
Time ticked by and she and Herman had two children. Herman died in 1970, when Opal was 41-years-old.
Opal always intended to finish her degree and she even took a class when she was in her 40′s.
“When my dad and aunt graduated from Union, she went back and took a class in public health so she was moving toward and that might have been the last class that gave her enough credits to graduate with her general studies degree,” said Flynn.
Opal now is now in hospice care at Christian Care Communities in Corbin after a catching pneumonia last year.
When the pandemic hit, Flynn was not allowed to visit her grandmother, so she wanted to do something special for her.
“It was placed upon my heart to do something and I always wondered if anyone ever deserved their college degree and came so close to it, it would be her,” said Flynn.
She asked college officials to look to see how many credits her grandmother needed to graduate.
“We all have college degree. There is no doubt it’s because she is so smart and such a hard worker. That’s our bloodline from her,” said Flynn
After some digging, officials found she had enough credits to graduate with a degree in general studies.
“The degree of general studies didn’t exist at Union College and now it does,” said Flynn.
Now, after 75 years, Opal is officially a college graduate.
“She said, ‘I guess it’s about time I graduated,‘” said Flynn.
On August 12, a virtual ceremony was held and Union College President Marcia Hawkins conferred Opal’s degree over Zoom.
“She started in 1945, she left in 1949 this close from getting a degree but yet here in 2020 Dr. Hawkins said, ‘You’ve always been a bulldog but now you’re a graduate,‘” said Flynn.
Copyright 2020 WYMT. All rights reserved.
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'It's about time I graduated': 92-year-old woman earns degree from Union College - WYMT
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