A high school diploma is something Angelina Loiacono should have received decades ago.
Born on May 9, 1926, as Angelina Moskella, she immigrated with her parents from Italy to the United States as an infant and would become the oldest of the family’s eight children.
At 16, Loiacono made the choice to leave high school in 1942, during her junior year, in order to help support her family with their financial struggles.
“Through the years, she always regretted that she never did get her diploma,” Paula Roth, one of Loiacono’s daughters, said.
On Tuesday, one month after her 100th birthday and with family members cheering her on, Loiacono crossed the stage at Cottingham Stadium with Easton Area High School’s Class of 2026 and received an honorary diploma.
“Though she never received a formal education, her life experience became her greatest teacher,” Principal Kyle Geiger said. “Her legacy is one of perseverance, compassion, sacrifice, and unwavering love reflected in the generations she nurtured and the values she passed down.”
Loiacono’s dream of receiving her high school diploma would become the mission of her grandson and Roth’s nephew, Richard Ehrhardt.
Roth said Ehrhardt had previously offered to help Loiacono take classes so she could graduate but she declined, citing her age. He then contacted the Easton Area School District to form a plan to get Loiacono her diploma.
“She’s learned enough in her 100 years and the school agreed and Tracy Piazza, the superintendent, said, ‘We’re going to give her an honorary degree’ and then things just snowballed,” Ehrhardt said.
Ehrhardt said the original plan was to present his grandmother an honorary diploma during a school board meeting earlier in the year, but that had to be canceled due to heavy snowfall. Further discussions between Ehrhardt and EASD in the spring revealed other challenges.
“It just seemed like there was always something that interfered,” Roth said.
Roth said the challenges of planning how Loiacono would receive her diploma were overcome when EASD offered to have her attend graduation.
Ehrhardt said he saw it as the greatest honor of his life to hand his grandmother her diploma, one that he believes does not belong to him alone.
“I was hesitant to do that because there’s three other grandchildren, she’s got two daughters — my aunt, my mom — and I felt like there could have been other people or somebody else doing it,” Ehrhardt said. “Because I put it together, they felt that I should be the one doing it and I think it would be more than an honor for any one of us to do it.”
Ehrhardt said he felt it appropriate for Loiacono to be recognized in such a grand fashion and hoped having the graduates hear about her story would further inspire them to push for what they want out of life despite the obstacles before them.
“You have these dreams and when those dreams start getting crushed a little bit by the adversity of life you can either give up or keep going. My grandmother kept going,” Ehrhardt said. “She made it to 100 years old and she’s getting honored for that fact and that should be an inspiration to any person that you can make your own choices to make the path of your own life and this is a recognition of that.”
Loiacono, who donned a red cap and gown and a sash with her graduation year 1944 on it, said she was shocked to receive her diploma — her family surprised her by telling her it was Ehrhardt being honored — but feels satisfied that a longtime desire has finally been fulfilled.
“I’m happy now,” Loiacono said. “I feel like whatever I did all my life, and I did a lot for my family and friends, that’s like a thank you.”