Disabled woman receives posthumous diploma

NASHWAUK, MINN. — Doctors said Carole Clark McBride would never walk, but she did up until she had a stroke late in life. She wasn't supposed to have children, but she had four. And when her classmates were graduating from Nashwauk High School in 1961, she was told not to bother showing up for the ceremony.

McBride, who had cerebral palsy, had not passed gym, and school administrators said she wouldn't be getting a diploma. She attended anyway and received an unsigned version. McBride, who had otherwise gotten good grades and been involved with extracurricular activities, lived quietly with that slight until she died of congestive heart failure Sept. 2. She was 82.

That cruelty of 60 years ago was corrected this past week in a ceremony at the high school:

Members of the senior class were asked to plan it — which they did as if it was their own, according to class president Olivia Nagler, who passed out programs and spoke during the ceremony.  A slideshow played a lifetime of images of McBride, often with a big floral barrette in her hair and an even bigger smile...

The story with photos continues at the StarTribune.  Sounds like material for an "On the Road" segment.