Local woman, 96, gets chance to tour high school and is surprised with diploma

Her Stivers High School diploma never arrived.

“I cried a lot about that,” Lois remembered. “I was crying because I didn’t get to graduate.”

Thanks to some creative clothing choices, Lois had managed to hide her pregnancy. She left school a few weeks before graduation after her doctor ordered complete bed rest. School officials were unaware of her situation and she was told that if they they found out about it, she would be dismissed.

Judy Kennard of Vandalia, a Stivers’ alum, said she could relate to Lois’ situation.

“It was a different time,” she said. “I ran off and eloped in April of 1965. I was on the Prom Court and they kicked me off because I was married. You weren’t allowed to participate if you were married.”

A happy ending

But 77 years later, on a sunny September Saturday morning, 96-year-old Lois Hicks of Springboro, was in for a huge surprise.

She’d been told that her family had arranged a tour of Stivers High School. The last time she’d walked the halls was in May of 1948.

But Lois had no idea what was awaiting her: a group of excited Stivers’ alums and faculty, a videographer, a bouquet of lovely flowers and best of all, a cap, a gown and a high school diploma with her name inscribed on it.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

After being helped into the cap and gown —courtesy of 2025 grad Lily Perdue and her grandfather Chris who made a 1948 black and orange tassel — the ceremony began. Liz Whipps, Dean of Arts at Stivers School for the Arts, began to speak.

“Your class was probably one of the best classes we’ve ever graduated from Stivers. You and your classmates were responsible for making the United State of America one of the strongest nations in the world,” Whipps said. “So I want you to know that magic and all your tenacity and all your hopes and dreams continue to carry this country forward. It is our honor today today to present you with something long overdue. They say the wealth of a person is measured in the love they have given and received from others. So with this crowd here today, you are greatly loved.”

“I can’t thank you all enough for doing this for me,” Lois responded. “I just think it’s the most wonderful thing.”

Touring her alma mater

Following the September “graduation,” there was a tour of the school and a chance to reminisce. The auditorium looked familiar to Lois; although it was renovated and updated in 2015, the ornate Victorian theater had been refurbished to preserve its historic beauty. Lois also remembered running up the steps of the main entrance on her way to class. The only change was that today that doorway is a side entrance to the school.

While at Stivers, Lois played the saxophone in the band and also worked at Equity Dairy on Brown Street which was managed by her parents. Following graduation, she attended the Vogue Modeling Agency and worked as a model for Elder-Beerman and Rike’s department stores. She was named Miss Bavarian Beer when she was 23.

Over the years, Lois held a number of other jobs. She worked as a cake decorator for 50 years — first at Murphy’s Baker and then Belmont Bakery — then opened her own business, specializing in wedding cakes. She also worked for more than 40 years for two pharmaceutical companies.

Keeping the secret

The heartwarming graduation story really begins 15 years ago after Lois’ husband died and her daughter and son-in-law moved in with her. But after both of them passed away within a year of one another and Lois was hospitalized with pneumonia, it was apparent to granddaughter Stef and her husband Bill Lauson, that living alone was no longer an option for Grandma.

In February 2022, Lois and her two little dogs, moved in with her grandkids and their 18 year-old-daughter, Amanda, and their three cats.

It’s been a blessing for everyone.

“In the spring of 2023, Lois shared with me and Stef that she always wanted to see a concert at the Grand Ole Opry; in September of that year we took her to see a show there in which the Oak Ridge Boys were the headliner. The show was emceed by Larry Gatlin of the brothers, who kissed her on the forehead. We have taken her to Clearwater Beach in Florida and travels with us to to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving and to Chicago for Christmas where she is embraced by my side of the family.”

Lois has become a big football fan and helps Bill root for the Green Bay Packers and Notre Dame.

“She takes great pride in never becoming a ‘burden’” to us. She continues to clean the house and do our laundry. She constantly reminds our daughter, Amanda, to bring her laundry home once a week from her apartment at the University of Dayton where she’s a senior. Lois also enjoys going for walks in the neighborhood with Stef and her two dogs.

It was Bill who came up with the Stivers idea.

“Among the things Grandma shared with us over the years is that she never received her high school diploma,” said Bill. I currently have an office space that’s located across the parking lot from Stivers and one day my wife remarked that Grandma would probably love to see the school again and see how it had changed."

So one day he walked over to the school and talked to the office staff who referred him to historian Chris Kingston. Kingston, who gives tours to families considering Stivers for their young artists," was happy to oblige.

“As I contemplate it all over a cup of coffee now,” said Kingston, “I am reminded once more that it is always about the children…past, present and future. It’s just that some of them are 97 now."