Great-grandmother graduates from college at 79

Lucy Capers hopes to pass along her love of learning to her family.

By
BRIAN CANOVA
May 17, 2017, 10:06 AM ET
3 min read

— -- Lucy Capers, a great-grandmother of 13, stood proudly at a college graduation ceremony on Sunday, but she wasn’t there to applaud someone in her family. The grinning 79-year-old was the graduate.

Married at 18, Capers settled in Maryland where she raised her three children and worked for the federal government. It wasn’t until retirement that she decided to go back to school.

“I always had a desire to know things,” Capers told WJLA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C.

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Her hunger for higher education led to two associate degrees and, most recently, a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Studies from the University of Maryland University College.

“Education is the key. Just having that knowledge is everything,” the graduate said.

Capers is the second member in her family to graduate from college and she hopes her degree will serve as an example that education is possible at any age.