EASTON, Pa. – Tuesday, hundreds of high school seniors took the stage at Cottingham Stadium in Easton.
And they had a very special guest joining them in their celebration.
Joining a sea of Easton Area High School graduates on stage was 100-year-old Angelina Loiacono.
Born in 1926, Loiacono’s family immigrated to Easton from Italy.
As the oldest of eight children, Loiacono took on responsibility at a young age.
During World War II, at just 16 years old, she had to leave high school to work to support her family.
As a part of the class of 2026’s graduation ceremony, Loiacono was surprised with her own diploma.
“I was waiting for my grandson to step up there to call him, and they called me instead. And I thought, ‘What’s going on here?’ He was dressed, and he told me that he was getting honored, and I said, ’Why aren’t they calling you?’” Loiacono, the honorary graduate, explained.
She said the surprise moved her to tears.
“I feel honored, I really do. I just did everything on my own, and I didn’t expect anybody to do something for me,” Loiacono said.
Her family helped make it all happen.
“I love my family. I love my family, my friends, my true friends — I love them,” Loiacono said.
And for her family, that love is tenfold.
“All the adversities that she had, and she always pushed forward, so that’s what she taught, that’s what she put in me, and that’s the way I teach my kids — that adversity doesn’t stop you, look at gram,” said Richard Ehrhardt, her grandson. “We’re rich…we’re richer than could be because we have her, and that’s all that really matters.”