Sharon superintendent fulfills dying vet's last wish

May 21—SHARON — When Sharon schools Superintendent Justi Glaros found out that a 98-year-old veteran's last wish was to hold his high school diploma, she went above and beyond the duties of her job.

Richard Remp, a retired Marine from Poolesville, Md., formerly of Sherman Avenue in Sharon, told the commander of the American Legion Post 247 in his town that he never received a diploma because he was sent off to World War II, then the Korean War, then to the Vietnam War.

When another veteran in the post was given a graduation ceremony, Remp expressed his desire to hold his high school diploma.

So the Legion post's second vice commander, James Cappuccilli, got in touch with the Sharon Alumni Hall of Fame coordinators, which in turn informed Glaros that a Marine would like to see if he could get his high school diploma.

After researching the requirements for issuing an honorary high school diploma to a veteran and looking for Remp in old yearbooks, Glaros found out that a veteran must have been honorably discharged and must have served in either one of the three wars — Remp served in all three.

Glaros found that Remp was eligible to receive an honorary diploma, but then found out that he actually went to a neighboring high school.

A couple weeks went by when Remp fell and the hospital found he had stage 4 prostate cancer that was aggressively attacking his liver. He was put on hospice care and was not expected to have long to live.

Glaros had been thinking about the veteran who wanted a high school diploma and wondered if he would get his wish fulfilled.

At that point, Cappucilli called Glaros to thank her for her research and for trying to fulfill the wish, but he let her know that the neighboring school was not able to get Remp's request onto their agenda until next month, which would have been too late.

That was Tuesday, May 14.

Glaros flew into action.

"For me it was a no-brainer," Glaros said. "I knew I had to do the right thing."

So she talked it over with the school board and school board President Eric Wenger, who gave her the go-ahead. Glaros had a diploma printed that was ready to go Friday.

At that point, Capucilli said Glaros could have overnighted the diploma, or said she was going to wait over the weekend and take it down Monday. But that also would have been too late.

So Glaros jumped into her car on Friday, with some Sharon swag in hand, drove 4 1/2 hours to Maryland and hand-delivered the diploma to Remp during a graduation ceremony in his living room.

"The last thing he remembers is the fact that she came down and gave him the diploma," said American Legion Post 247 Commander Julian Singh. "That was his last waking moment."

Singh said Remp, or "Gunny" as they called him since he was a gunnery sergeant in the Marines, went downhill after the ceremony until his passing on Sunday.

"We lost a fabulous man," Cappuccilli said. "That man had a sense of humor that would not quit."

Gunny received a citation for being a Vietnam veteran.

"He saved a lot of lives by risking his," Singh said.

There were a group of Marines trapped in enemy territory. Gunny was shooting several thousand rounds to keep the enemy at bay for four hours. He kept them back while the Marines were evacuated. He got the commendation with a combat "V" for valor.

Cappuccilli said Glaros deserves all the credit for making Gunny's last wish come true.

"I can't say enough about Justi and the leadership she brings to the table," Cappuccilli said.

Glaros had the crowd take a moment of silence to honor the graduate's passing Monday at the Sharon School Board meeting. She also said that she is planning to do something at this year's graduation to honor Gunny as well.

"I'm blessed to be in the position to be able to do it for this man," Glaros said. "The opportunity to give the diploma to him is what I wanted."

Follow Melissa Klaric on twitter @HeraldKlaric or email her at mklaric@sharonherald.com

Follow Melissa Klaric on twitter @HeraldKlaric or email her at mklaric@sharonherald.com