Libert Bozzelli has done a lot in his 98 years. At 17, he dropped out of high school to join the army and fight for his country in WWII. He returned from the war and married his high school sweetheart, Madeline and have been happily married for 75 years. They couple settled down in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio where they went on to have four children, six grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren.
But one thing he never did was go back and get his high school diploma. That is, until this past week. News 5 Cleveland reports that as the Cuyahoga Falls High School class of 2022 made their way across the stage to accept their diplomas, they had one extra well-deserving student join them. At 98-years-old, 80 years after he should have graduated, Bozzelli finally received his diploma. Not an honorary diploma either. He passed a series of tests to qualify for the real thing.
He was grateful to be able to share the stage with his great-grandson, Dominick Czetli, who also graduated that night. Bozzelli says he went back for his diploma because “I think everybody should get all the education they get and don’t pass the opportunity to get it,” Bozzelli says. “I think education is very important.”