100-year-old woman receives high school diploma

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – 100-year-old Norma Morton Parker received her high school diploma on Thursday, proving it’s never too late to finish your education.

“I was ready to graduate, but my husband was going into the army, so we got married,” said Parker, the honorary South Fremont High School graduate.

Parker was scheduled to graduate from St. Anthony High School in 1943, but World War II threw her plans in turmoil.

In 1942, she married her husband Ray Parker before he was deployed as a tank destroyer to the European Theater, serving in Italy, France, Austria, Belgium and Germany.

“After he’d gone [to war] and my class graduated, I was pregnant with my first son, and so it took me this long to get it [the diploma].”

Parker has two sons and a daughter who passed away three years ago of cancer.

Today, the family has expanded to 90 members, with twin great-grandchildren on the way. A large gathering of them reunited to honor her Thursday.

“You made the selfless decision to leave school early,” said granddaughter Karen Ramsay. “Not because you didn't value education, but because you value family, sacrifice and doing what was needed in a moment that mattered. You stepped into responsibility, strength, and into a life that would go on to bless all of us.”

While her husband was in the war, she worked in a dried peas factory in St. Anthony.

“Usually, I would say something at a graduation like, ‘Now with this diploma, we're going to need to go out and make something of ourselves in the real world,’ right?” said Fremont County Joint School District #215 Superintendent Brandon Farris. “But you've been out in the real world already for many, many years.”

Farris and School District #251 Trustee Julieann Hill presented Parker with the diploma.

“It makes me pretty proud and happy,” Parker said. “I didn't ever feel bad because I got married and didn't get my diploma, but there was times I wished I had it. So this day means a lot to me.”

She has a word of advice for those following in her footsteps.

“Do the right thing and smile,” Parker said. “They are always telling me to smile, you know? That must be important.”