LITTLE ROCK — An 89-year-old North Little Rock man whose college career was interrupted by a stint as a fighter pilot in World War II will finally graduate Saturday.
Arkansas Tech says Charlie Ball will walk across the stage and accept his degree a full 71 years after he started taking classes at the Russellville campus.
After seeing a commercial for the school's accelerated degree program, Ball contacted assistant professor Beth Giroir and learned he had already earned enough credits for a Bachelor of Professional Studies degree in public relations.
“I really couldn’t believe it,” Ball said in a news release. “I had to call Dr. Giroir a couple of times and make sure.”
Ball began taking classes in Russellville in fall 1941, but left at the end of the year to train to become a fighter pilot. After serving in England during the war, Ball returned to Arkansas Tech on the GI Bill and later transferred to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
But he left before graduating to join his father in a North Little Rock dry cleaning business. Ball later became a real estate broker and insurance agent and now works part-time at a pharmacy.