Sad but oddly interesting

Julie was reading our local obituaries for some reason this morning and stumbled onto this.  I've changed some of the names and facts to protect identities.  However, this is so tragically sad and interesting I had to share it:

My dear mother,  Margaret Walters, died on Dec 2, 2011 after a lengthy and involuntary confinement at El Camino Hospital at the age of 89.  Mom was born the daughter of ....and graduated at the top of her class at Wellington High School in Illinois.  She was very proud of her hometown, returning for over 50 years to her high school reunions.

My mother was an extremely intelligent woman and wanted desperately to go on to college immediately after graduation, her grandfather offering to pay her expenses at University of Illinois, to which she had been accepted.

Her father disallowed that, stating that 'girls only get married'.  Her older brother,  Eli, went in her stead.  Eli flunked out after one semester.  My dear mother, over the objections, constant interference, and sabotage by my father, John Walters, finally earned her Bachelor of Arts degree on December 23, 1994 at the age of 72 and her Masters of Arts in Sociology at the age of 76, both from San Jose State University.