B.C.'s oldest ever high-school grad collects her diploma at age 92

Joan Deebank has done many things in her 92 years.

But shenever finished high school not until a few days ago.

Deebank walked across the stage to receive her diploma in Nanaimo on Tuesday, becoming the oldest person on recordto graduatehigh school in B.C.

"I stood there and I thought, 'My God, this is not happening to me,'" Deebank said over the phone from her Nanaimo home.

"I was over the moon ... I never thought the day would ever come."

Left school at 13

Deebankdreamed of going back to school ever since her father told her to drop out when she was 13.

Born in Hastings, England, she grew up in the midst of the Great Depression, and it was time to get ajob.

She chose to workas a maid. Every Friday, her mother would stand on the porch at the end of the day to collect her daughter's earnings.

The routine lasted two years before Deebankquit.

"I thought, 'I'm not staying here.' And I joined the army," she said.

Then 16,Deebank lied about her age to join the British army astheSecond World War raged.

She volunteered to bring tea and coffeeto soldiers "on the guns," balancing atray around the men as they fired. She'd unclip mugs from their belts, pour the drinksand place the cups at the soldiers' feet.

"She actually has hearing loss because of the guns, but she wasn't going to let the guys not have their hot drinks," said Deebank's daughter, Sonia Lightfoot.

Marriage and children

Deebankwent on to marry a soldier and have four children. They immigrated to Ontario in 1959 andeventually movedto Vancouver Island.

Betweenmotherhood and two jobs, Deebank never found the time to go back to school.

She kept her mind sharp readingmagazines on science, archeology, biology and art. The late Stephen Hawking was and still is a favourite.

Sometimes, as she got older, she would sit with the material and cry.

"She would have tears rolling down, mourning the loss of her education," her daughter said.

Last November, Lightfootreached out toIsland ConnectEd, a distributed learning school on Vancouver Island.

Deebankenrolled in B.C.'s "Adult Dogwood" program, which is tailored to older students who want to earn their high school diploma.

Island ConnectEdteachers designed her curriculum and gaveassignments to Lightfoot, who broke them down into manageable chunks.

They'd work on projects togetheruntil Deebank was tired,then pick it up again another day.

They kept at it untilDeebankfinished this spring.

Graduation day

The 92-year-old walked the stage with her class on Tuesday,collectingher diploma to a standing ovation.

"I couldn't have beenmore proud," Lightfoot said.

"To see her just full of light and life, to see that joy on her face ... that was why I went down this road with her."

Lightfoot said her mom went back to school so others might be spurredto go back, too.

"She says, over and over again,she hopes to inspire people young and old to go to school," she said.

And, Lightfootadded, Deebank wanted tostick it to her father.

"Oh my God, he wouldn't believe it," Deebanksaid with a hint of mischief.

"When I'm in bed at night, I look up to heaven and I say, 'See, Dad, I did it.'"

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