FAIRLAWN: Ninety-three-year-old Dorothy Louise Liggett had one regret about her life.
That disappointment was transformed to joy on Wednesday afternoon when she was awarded her high school diploma as a surprise on her birthday.
“Her one regret is no longer a regret. It is a fulfilled ambition,” said Donald Huston, Liggett’s 67-year-old son, who lives in Oklahoma. “I’m really thrilled that she is finally getting the one thing she always told us she wished she had gotten. This is a special birthday gift. It gives credence to her entire life.”
Liggett’s North High School diploma was hand delivered to her home in Fairlawn by Akron Public Schools Superintendent David W. James. He was moved to makes sure Liggett received her diploma, after reading a letter from her daughter, Janice Larkin, 73, of Monument Beach, Mass.
In the letter, Larkin explained that her mother was a few weeks away from graduation in 1942, when she was expelled, after school officials discovered she was married.
“When I read the letter, and did some follow-up research, I felt terrible for the way Mrs. Liggett was treated all of those years ago and wanted to do what we could to make it up to her,” James said. “To have invested 13 years in school, to have been a good student and still not receive a diploma because of that, was simply wrong."
Liggett and her late husband, John Huston — who had graduated from North High School two years earlier and had been called into the U.S. Army Air Corps. — had run away to Kentucky to be married and discovered a few months later that they were having a baby. Their plan was to have Liggett finish high school and then join her husband wherever he was assigned, after she graduated.
That plan changed when Liggett was belittled by a gym teacher for forgetting her gym suit. When the teacher insisted Liggett go to study hall, the slighted teen blurted: “No. I’m married. I’m going home.”
The heat-of-the-moment admission ended her chance to walk across the stage with her peers. Just two months from graduation, the school acted on its policy that banned married students from attending high school.
“When we were growing up, my mother always insisted that I and my siblings finish school and go to college. She did the same thing with her grandchildren, great grandchildren and even neighborhood children. She would tell us how important education is and say that the worst thing you could do is not finish school,” Larkin said.
“She always felt that by not getting her high school diploma, she had not done what she should have,” Larkin said. “I feel responsible because she was pregnant with me when she was expelled.”
After Larkin was born, she and her mother (against the advice of relatives) rode the Greyhound Bus all over America to join her father on several military bases, where he completed pilot training. Larkin shared that she and her mother slept in some unusual places, including a library in Kansas and a converted chicken coop in Oklahoma.
In addition to mentoring children and youth, Liggett is currently near completion of a mission to read a biography or autobiography on every U.S. president and president’s wife.
Liggett received her diploma surrounded by her five children — Larkin, Huston, Diane Bailey of Uniontown, Carol Weiner of Akron, and John Huston of North Carolina — sons- and daughters-in-law, school representatives and media.
They surrounded her as they coaxed her out of her home to receive the surprise.
“What’s the one thing you never did in your life that you wish you had?” Bailey said as she walked arm-in-arm with Liggett, her mother clearly shocked to find a small crowd assembled in her driveway.
“Graduate,” Liggett replied.
“Well, you are now,” Bailey said as one of her siblings pulled a black graduation cap from a box and placed it on her head.
Superintendent James approached the tearful woman and ended 75 years of longing with a handshake and a diploma.
“I always felt bad not having this,” she said. “Even though I’m 93 years old, I still like having it.”
“While it may be an honor for Dorothy, for us it is a long overdue recognition of her achievement from her days as a student at APS,” James said. “While any day certainly would have been suitable, we feel her birthday is the perfect occasion — what better gift for a life-long learner and one who has given so much to so many?”
Staff writer Paula Schleis contributed to this article. Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com.