BOX ELDER COUNTY, Utah — It’s a secret they kept even from their family members. Now, a pair of Box Elder County siblings, who are also senior citizens, are about to achieve a milestone no one saw coming.
Stephen Ball and his sister, Bonnie Jean Ashby, have always been close.
Bonnie Jean said that while showing off old photos of the two. “I’m a baby, he’s well, yeah... like I say, we’re 15 months apart in age.”
Stephen is now 77, Bonnie Jean is 76, and later this month, the two siblings will don caps and gowns and receive college degrees from Utah State University.
But it’s a graduation that’s more than four decades in the making.
Bonnie Jean said she actually had two scholarships to Utah State right out of high school, but then got married and became a full-time mom. She said she first tried to resume college in the early 1980s, but it was difficult. “I had five kids and a foster daughter at the time.”
Bonnie Jean completed a few classes, but then twins arrived and a couple more decades passed. Then, earlier this year, Bonnie Jean said she was going to enroll again and learned she only needed one more credit hour.
She said that’s when a university advisor stepped in.
“And he says, you know what? Just let her graduate with what she has. So I had enough credits 40 years ago, it just never happened," Bonnie Jean explained. "So I told my brother, guess what? I’m graduating! And he’s like; I wonder if I can graduate?”
And in a friendly bit of sibling rivalry, Stephen decided to check into his own credit allocation and wound up with a similar, pleasant surprise.
After years of working, raising his family, and taking occasional classes, Stephen said he learned he also had enough credits for an associate's degree.
“So they turned it into the advancement committee, and they said, sure," Stephen recalled. "I didn’t even have to take another class.”
They will be walking together at the end of this month to receive their degrees.
All of this came as a pleasant surprise to their families, which, between them, number nearly 90 children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Stephen said the family reaction was super positive. “So proud of you, better late than never, I knew you could do it, eventually.”
And Bonnie said it’ll be a perfect ending to a very long journey. “And we just love each other, and I’m excited we get to do this together.”
They believe they’ll be among the oldest, if not the oldest, siblings to graduate together from Utah State University.
