At 98, Iowa man finally receives diploma 80 years after leaving school

Paul Little was supposed to leave Dallas Center High School in Iowa with his graduating class in 1946. Instead, circumstances at home meant school had to give way to work while he was still a junior. More than eight decades later, the qualification he never received was brought to him at the nursing home where he now lives. According to a CBS19 report, the 98-year-old was presented with a high school diploma on September 17, marking a school connection that had survived long after his own student days ended. By then, Little had spent decades farming, raised a family of his own and quietly put money towards young people in his local community.Paul Little left school before graduation to help support his familyLittle attended Dallas Center High School in Grimes, Iowa, and was on course to graduate in 1946. His education, however, stopped before he reached his final year. He left during his junior year because he needed to work and help support his family. There was no graduation ceremony for him and no diploma to take home. The decision belonged to a very different period of his life, when earning money could take precedence over finishing school. A little later built his working lif...