‘It was magic.’ At 81, Texas woman went back to school and earned her high school diploma
On March 19, 1959, two months shy of graduating, Nancy Lewis left home for good to be with her boyfriend.
She was 18.
On May 27, 2022, Nancy Lewis Davis walked across the stage at Glen Rose High School to accept her diploma, the same school she left.
She is 81.
In attendance at the ceremony was “the boyfriend.” She and former Texas Tech track star Tommy Davis have been married for more than 60 years.
After Glen Rose principal Kelly Shackleford told Davis’ story during the commencement ceremony, Davis accepted her degree and received a standing ovation from everyone in attendance.
“This was just something that was in the deep shadows and crevasse of your mind every time I went to a class reunion,” she said in a phone interview. “I was a cheerleader in high school. I was a homecoming queen nominee. I was the school paper editor. I loved my high school.”
Davis did everything in high school but finish.
“It had becoming a defining moment in my life; I had not finished what I started,” she said. “It stayed with me all these years.”
Graduating was on the bucket list
Not long after New Year’s Day in 2022, Davis made The Bucket List. On it was “get high school diploma.”
She called Shackelford, whose response to her request was what you might expect — she’s not really going to go through with this.
“I get calls from people who maybe are a few years removed from high school looking to finish,” he said, “but never anything like this.”
During their long conversation Shackelford was almost willing to just give Davis her diploma.
“She was two months away from finishing,” he said. “And she didn’t even need to take a class. She already had her GED.”
Years ago, Davis completed her Graduate Equivalency Degree. Still, not enough.
She wanted to finish high school.
He called the Texas Education Agency, which informed him there was a path for Davis to finish. A path that Shackelford thought could dissuade Davis from actually doing it.
Davis returning to a class room and sitting amid a bunch of 17- and 18-year-olds wasn’t exactly feasible. Shackelford told Davis all she needed to do was complete one online class in a subject of her choice.
“I told her if she did that we would love for her to walk across the stage during graduation,” he said. “I think that may have motivated her.”
With the aid of her daughter, Davis signed up for the course and paid for it. She selected a course from Texas Tech University, “Interpersonal Skills.”
This was it. She could not back out now.
Although it had been 60 years since Davis was in a classroom, the course work was doable.
“I still can’t fathom trying to think like an 18-year-old today and how they would answer these questions,” she said. “I don’t know how kids get through school today.”
The real challenge in all of this was the computer.
Her grandson bought her a laptop, and “maneuvering my way through that phase was the nightmare,” she said. “I had no knowledge of a computer at all. I could do some email and that was about it.”
She figured it out, and by the end of the semester she earned a 96.115.
There was no Amber Alert
When sisters Carmen and Nancy Lewis left the family home in Glen Rose in 1959, they took off to Fort Worth with their eyes on a bus station.
Both were in love with their boyfriends.
Carmen married her boyfriend, and eventually earned a degree from Tarleton State.
Nancy bused to Lubbock to be with Tommy, who was a football and track star at Granbury High School.
At the time Nancy arrived in Lubbock, Tommy was finishing his track career at Texas Tech.
She was gone for two weeks when she called her parents to tell them her whereabouts.
“Can you imagine doing that today?” she asked.
No. And hell no.
“I had a loving mother and a loving father who stayed married,” she said. “We didn’t have Amber alerts.”
What her family had was a lot of people. She is one of nine children. At the time she left the house, there were five.
Because they were not married, Nancy lived with Tommy’s brother in Lubbock. If she had lived with Tommy out of wedlock, he would have likely lost his scholarship.
After he graduated from Texas Tech, Nancy landed a job as a keypunch operator with Pioneer Natural Gas. They were on their way to happily ever after until the day her boss called her into his office.
The company had learned she did not graduate from high school, which was a policy for its employees. They found her a job with another company.
Soon after she and Tommy started a family. Raising kids became the full-time gig. Tommy coached and taught all over Texas during a 44-year career.
The couple has six kids, and also raised a grandchild.
In 2008, the couple started a B&B in Christoval, where they live today.
They built a family and a life. Not having a high school diploma was never an issue.
Keeping it quiet
In the days leading up to the Glen Rose graduation ceremony, both Shackelford and Davis kept it a secret.
On the morning of the ceremony, the high school seniors participated in a run through. Davis waited until they were gone to do her dry run.
About halfway through the one hour, 50-minute ceremony, Shackleford introduced Davis.
She used a cane to walk across the stage, just to be sure she didn’t fall down.
“It was everything and more than I could have hoped. It was just a special time for me,” she said. “I can’t hardly talk about it without getting emotional. It was magic.”
After the graduation ceremony, friends Matt and Amy Carter threw her a large BBQ style party.
Shortly after going home, she placed her diploma in the middle of her living room.
“It’s front stage and center, where everyone can see it,” she said. “Because this is it.
“I am not going to college.”
An 81-year-old college freshman ... now that would be a story.
