ST. LOUIS – At 91 years of age, Mary Foley has accomplished a remarkable feat: earning her college degree. After nearly seven decades of waiting, her grandson’s determination helped her achieve this lifelong goal.

Foley’s journey began in the 1950s, when she enrolled at the University of Missouri. Despite her initial desire to seek a career in medicine, Mary, driven by her father’s wish for her to become a teacher, decided to pursue an education degree. Around the time she started school, she was also dating Charles Foley, who went to fight in the Korean War.

However, after Mary’s first year of college, her father died, which forced her to abandon her studies and support her family.

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“I went to work in St. Louis for four years,” Mary said. “Then Charles came back from Japan during the Korean War. We got married in January 1955, and he went back to Mizzou to get his master’s and doctorate degrees on the GI Bill.”

While her husband continued his education, Mary took a job at the university and attended classes during her lunch breaks. Despite performing well academically, life’s demands led her to prioritize her family over her degree. The birth of her first child and subsequent relocations due to her husband’s career solidified her decision to put her own education on hold.

Years later, after raising four children and helping them achieve their own college degrees, Mary still had not forgotten her unfinished business. It was her grandson, Brandon Droy, who reignited the possibility of completing her degree. Droy, a paramedic pursuing a nursing degree, reached out to the University of Missouri to inquire about his grandmother’s academic records.

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“They sent back notice that I had enough hours to get a general studies degree in arts and science,” Mary said. She found out that she could graduate in May.

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Though distance and recent personal loss prevented her from attending the graduation ceremony in person, Mary and her family celebrated the achievement by watching the event online.

“It was lots of fun watching the ceremony with my kids, all my family members, and some friends,” she said.

Mary’s advice for non-traditional students who are considering returning to school is to investigate the possibility of earning a general studies degree, as it might be more attainable than they think.

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