‘Old codger’ gets his diploma: C. Eugene Switzer graduates from Yosemite High

by Earlene Ward - Yosemite High School District

— Earlene Ward

Yosemite Adult Education teacher Janice Dissmeyer looks on with pride as C. Eugene Switzer models his cap and gown prior to the Yosemite Joint Union High School District Alternative Education graduation ceremony held June 13.

 

Although he is 70 years older than most of his fellow graduates, C. Eugene Switzer was one happy man when he received his high school diploma June 13 during the Yosemite Joint Union High School District Alternative Education graduation ceremony.

Mr. Switzer, 87-years-young, was as excited to be fitted with his cap and gown as any of the graduates. “Me, an old codger, up there with all those kids, I’ll sure be self-conscious,” he said prior to the big event.

Only he knows if he felt self-conscious at graduation, but however he may have felt, he was the hit of the evening.

Mr. Switzer’s high school diploma is a bit of a puzzle, but he is glad to finally have it “nicely framed on the wall.”

Circumstances were such when he was a teenager during the Depression and the years of World War II that he had to leave school before he graduated. He enlisted in the Navy and was a Seabee for three-and-a-half years during World War II, attaining the rank of chief petty officer.

 

Surprise, years later

During his years in the military, he took various classes. When he was discharged from the Navy, he went to Pasadena Junior College to ask about the credits he earned in the Navy. They credited him with the classes but he was never told.

So, unbeknownst to him, he graduated from Pasadena Junior College in 1946 but didn’t find out about it until this spring. All these years he thought he was short one credit for high school graduation.

He went through life wishing he had that high school diploma but became too busy to pursue it. “It would have made a tremendous difference” if he had the diploma earlier in his life. He said he was turned down for many jobs because he did not have the diploma.

He became a carpenter before he enlisted in the Navy. After his discharge he acquired his contractor’s license and worked for himself.

 

25 years in mountains

He and his wife lived in Oakhurst for 25 years, moving here from Southern California in 1972. They have lived in Coarsegold for the past four years. His wife is now a resident at a local convalescent hospital.

After his wife moved to the convalescent hospital, he says he didn’t have anything else to do so he decided to check into a high school diploma again. “I had thought about it before,” he said, “but never did anything about it.”

He contacted Janice Dissmeyer at the Yosemite Adult School to find out how to get the credit he needed for a high school diploma. She called Pasadena Junior College and was told that he was there so long ago they couldn’t do anything.

However, a few days later, someone from the college called Mrs. Dissmeyer with the news that he had graduated and they had found his original diploma from 1946. “I was flabbergasted,” he says, “This is really something.”

He did not need to take any classes through Yosemite Adult Education because he already had the diploma. However, he was awarded an honorary diploma from the school along with his 1946 Pasadena Junior College diploma.

Mrs. Dissmeyer says the alternative staff "fell in love with him when we heard his story. He is such a dear man." The students at Evergreen High School and Ahwahnee High School became his admirers as well. "He just endears himself to people," Mrs. Dissmeyer says.

As he was honored at the graduation, his 91-year-old brother and 78-year-old sister watched proudly along with Mr. Switzer's daughter who lives at Shaver Lake. He and his wife also have two grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

His one sadness on graduation night was that his wife could not be there and that she could not fully understand what was happening.

"She is just a mile away," he said, "but she doesn't understand."

"Everyone has been so great," he said of the YJUHSD Alternative Education staff. "It is sure neat."

For the past 50 years, he has been an amateur machinist and has made miniature gasoline, air and steam engines.

YJUHSD Alternative Education Principal Curt Campbell was extremely pleased to have Mr. Switzer at the graduation. "What an inspiration he is to the younger people. By example, he has shown them the importance of a high school education. He never gave up; even at 87 it was important for him to be a high school graduate."