Democracy Dies in Darkness
National

A teen dropped out of high school during WWII. Now 99, she just graduated.

Eleanor Monninger was one class short of graduating when her brother went to fight in World War II and her father needed her help running the family farm.

By
May 22, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. EDT
Eleanor Monninger, 99, talks with a Macomb High School senior during their graduation ceremony Saturday in Illinois. Monninger earned her diploma more than 80 years after she left high school in 1942. (Andrea Ratermann)
4 min

Eleanor Monninger was always a little embarrassed about never graduating high school, but on Saturday, the 99-year-old faced 3,000 people in the audience — including nearly 150 fellow graduates who were more than 80 years her junior — as she wore her cap and gown and held her diploma.

The crowd rose and roared.