Unfinished Business: 67-year old Centenary student finally gets degree on May 3
When most college seniors are itching to get out into the world, find a job, and move on with their lives, there is one senior at Centenary College who has already done all that. John P. Smith will graduate with the Class of 2025 at the age of 67, more than 40 years after he started as a freshman.
Smith worked for AT&T in manufacturing right out of high school, but after eight years, he was laid off. The company encouraged employees (and former ones) to take advantage of incentives to go to college to open doors to more employment opportunities. So, he enrolled in Panola College, and in just a year and half, he earned his associate’s degree. It was 1988 when Smith first enrolled at Centenary College aiming to get his bachelor’s degree. He loved history and political science, but it was Spanish that stumped him, and a year later, he left school.
He went back to work. He was no stranger to that. He started working at the age of 15. Finishing college was in the rearview mirror, for now. Time marched on. John and his wife Sherri Penn Smith, herself a Centenary graduate (‘84 and ‘93), became the proud parents of two daughters. Over the years, John worked for a beer company, a cigarette company, and Coca-Cola, and eventually, he retired. But a man who had worked all of his life did not warm to boredom, and he accepted “an offer I couldn’t refuse” from Gary ISD in east Texas to be a maintenance man. Between work, playing tennis, and spending time with his family, life was full and good.
That changed in December 2022, when his beloved wife of 41 years passed away. Shortly thereafter, he lost his only brother. Smith was devastated, but his wife’s words kept him moving forward.
“[Sherri] said ‘John, when I’m gone, I want you to play tennis three times a week,’” he said.
He kept busy with work and playing tennis, yes, three times a week, but something else was nagging at him. “When you lose somebody, you’ve got a lot of time on your hands, and you find things to keep moving on,” he said. “I knew this would keep me busy, plus I didn’t want to leave it left on the table.”
Smith’s family members – especially his daughters -- were elated and encouraging when they learned he wanted to go back to Centenary and finish the two courses he would need to get his degree. He is the baby of five children, and “everybody else had theirs, so I said, ‘You know what? I’m going back to get mine.’”
Smith was quick to point out how helpful Centenary was to help him and how appreciative he is.
“Everybody I’ve come into contact with at this Centenary school has been good as gold to me and helped me accomplish what I wanted to accomplish, especially Dr. Donahoe,” he said.
Dr. Amanda Donahoe is the chair of Centenary’s History and Political Science department, and she is as much of a fan of Smith as he is of her. “He showed bravery at every challenge and expressed gratitude in every exchange,” she said. “I congratulate John on his momentous success in achieving his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.”
That is a feat on many levels, particularly in view of the fact that college today is far different from the way it was during Smith’s first time around. “The thing that killed me was these stupid computers!” Smith grimaced as he nearly spat out those words. However, he said the Learning Commons helped him, dictating his paper to a computer helped him, and his youngest daughter helped him. He finished his final paper, complete with footnotes that clearly frustrated him.
He described feeling such a sense of accomplishment when he received the message from Dr. Donohoe, “Congratulations. You got a ‘B’.”
He will finally receive his degree from Centenary College during Commencement on May 3, 2025, and a whole host of family members are coming in to help celebrate.
“One of the things about it is achievement,” he said. “I’m a very big competitor, especially in the game of tennis, and I don’t like things left over. I didn’t finish this thing. And I finally get to finish.”
This accomplishment, though, is also bittersweet. He admitted that if his wife were still alive, he probably would not have come back “because I’d be doing stuff with her.”
She will be with him at graduation, however.
“When I do graduate, I’m going to have my wife’s ashes in one pocket and my brother’s ashes in the other,” he said. “Because they’re with me up there, but I want them to be closer to me.”
So, this graduation season, as most college seniors are looking to start their lives, John P. Smith is reflecting on his with pride. He’s looking forward to retiring for good this time.
As for what he will do with that newly-minted Centenary diploma? With a smile and a chuckle, he said, “To tell you the truth, I’m going to get my degree and hang it on the wall.”
Editor's note: John P. Smith’s 55-and-over tennis team recently won the USTA League Championship in Baton Rouge.