The demands of farming, serving his country in the Army in WWII and raising his family in Churchville, kept 90-year old Arthur Gay Jr. from getting a high school diploma … until now.
Gay was presented with an honorary diploma from Churchville-Chili Central School Tuesday evening, January 10, during the regular meeting of the school board of education.
“I thought it wasn’t possible,” Gay said following the ceremony, “I’m feeling very happy.”
Gay’s three children graduated from Churchville-Chili and his daughter Anne Levitt, who lives in Henrietta, explained that she requested her father be presented with the honorary diploma following a recent Honor Flight trip to Washington, D.C.
Levitt said her dad was interviewed regarding his war experiences by the Library of Congress, and was asked if he had graduated from high school. After they returned home, Levitt called her alma mater, Churchville-Chili, to see if an honorary diploma could be awarded to her dad.
“They said they were willing to work with us,” she said. “It was amazing to watch it all work,” she noted of the January 10 ceremony. “Churchville-Chili did a nice job.”
Gay said he attended grade school at a one room school house which stood on the corner of Sweden Walker Road and Route 31. “I didn’t go very often,” he joked.
Gay left school in the 6th grade to help on the family farm in Brockport. He enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 18 and served in Japan during WWII. Following basic training at Ft. Bragg, he served under General Douglas MacArthur in field artillery and helped liberate three Japanese islands. Gay was in Japan when the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Following the war, “he just came back and went back to work on the farm,” his daughter Anne said. A GI loan helped Gay purchase his own farm in Churchville, which he farmed for 40 years.
Gay said his wartime experience, “made me a man.”
Members of the Harvey C. Noone American Legion Post #954 in Churchville attended the January 10 ceremonies. Post Commander Gilbert Budd said many WWII vets left family, careers and cut their educations short to serve their country. “It makes us very proud,” he said of the honorary degree bestowed upon Gay. “Our freedoms are not free, they have a cost,” he said.
