PODCAST:
May 29, 2026 ~ Chris Renwick and Lloyd Jackson chat with Darlene Lee, who dropped out of school to become a mother in 1975. After raising four sons, surviving cervical cancer, and overcoming four heart attacks, she is finally graduating high school at 68 years old and joins WJR to share her inspiring journey of perseverance and determination.
DETROIT ~ A Detroit-area woman is finishing her educational journey after it was abruptly paused over 50 years ago.
Darlene Lee, 68, dropped out of high school in 1975 at the age of 15 after she became pregnant, later marrying at age 18 and divorcing at 20. Her life became more hectic as she had more children, eventually having four sons in total, preventing her from re-entering high school despite her wanting to.
It wasn’t until much later in life, following a bout with cervical cancer, that she pursued her high school degree, with her set to graduate from the Tri-County Educational Center on Sunday.
“It’s never too late to go back to school to accomplish anything that you set your goal out to be,” Lee told WJR.
