Village of Springdale resident Lloyd Granaas received an honorary diploma earlier this month from Cleveland Heights High School, 55 years after dropping out at age 17 to join the Navy. Always wanting to be a mechanic and a Navy man, he didn’t see the point of high school at the time.
Joining the Navy in 1959, Granaas and was on active duty until 1970. He saw combat four times, during the Bay of Pigs and three years in Vietnam. Hard to pinpoint exactly why, but Granaas said he had a light bulb moment during the Bay of Pigs invasion. If he was ever going to achieve anything in life he needed more education. Shortly after that he received his GED and attended any Navy schools available to him.
Following his service in the Navy, he had a 28-year career with Lincoln Electric Company and again followed the path of taking advantage of all the training offered to him.
Granaas regretted leaving high school and not receiving his diploma.
“It was the one thing I really wanted to have,” he said.
He contacted the school periodically for 40 years seeking a diploma citing his GED, military experience and the training schools he attended.
The response was always the same, “We don’t do that.”
So Granaas shelved the idea.
A few years later he read about a veteran receiving his diploma and it rekindled his efforts.
He sent an e-mail to the school and his son, Steve, took it from there. After so many years of trying, it came as quite a shock when he was invited to the Cleveland Heights Board of Education meeting to receive his diploma. Beautifully mounted on a black plaque, the diploma reads in part “awarded to Lloyd Granaas for his continued education beyond high school and dutifully serving his country.”
Granaas said he realized shortly after leaving high school that he had missed out on a well-rounded education. If he could go back in time he would apologize to his teachers for his arrogance particularly his English teacher Miss Ruby.
“Stay in school,” was always the message to his seven children. He continues today talking to his many grandchildren about the importance of staying in school and receiving a well-rounded education.