How did you celebrate your high school graduation?
For some of us, it was a long time ago so we might not remember those details all too well.
But 93-year-old Francis “Tony” Wilson remembers his graduation day very well.
That’s because it happened in September, 2018.
Technically, the life-long Portville resident belongs to the 1943 graduating class at Portville Central School, where he excelled in every sport the school had to offer.
In fact, Tony was captain for the school’s 1942 football team, who won every single game and outscored other schools 242-13.
But among his many achievements, he never actually graduated.
He never actually got his diploma.
In March of his senior year, a 17-year-old Tony walked out of his classroom for the last time, and decided to enlist.
His original goal was to join the Navy.
"We filled out a form one day in school [to figure out our perfect job], in the 4th grade or 5th grade,” smiled Tony. “I put down sailor on mine. I wanted to be on the water."
His first attempt fell short, after Tony hitch-hiked to Olean.
"The Navy recruiter wouldn't talk to me in Olean. He said 'Get out of here, don't bother me,' wouldn't even talk to me. So I told him where to go,” Tony said wryly.
So he hopped on a bus to Buffalo and took another chance, this time with the Coast Guard.
This time, he was enlisted.
Tony would go on to marry his dear friend Mertle, who came and visited him in Michigan midway through his term.
Up until then, Tony said, he’d always been treated like a kid, but marrying his best girl gained him a new degree of respect from his fellow servicemen.
"They all knew he was getting married that weekend,” laughed Tony’s youngest daughter Mary Lee Wenke. “So 2,000 guys are getting off the ship, they shoved him to the front of the line so he could get his paycheck and leave to get married."
Once his service time was over, Tony returned home to start a family with Mertle.
They had two boys and two girls together, and Tony’s love of sports continued as a coach, a referee, and a booster.
He was a lifetime member of the Portville American Legion Post #814 and the Portville Fire Department.
And yet, still no high school diploma.
That brings us to September, 2018, when Tony was preparing to be honored into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
Little did he know he’d be receiving two awards that night, awards that were 75 years in the making.
At mid-court on his school’s basketball court, Tony was given his high school diploma, thanks to Operation Recognition, a program with New York State’s Division of Veteran Affairs.
“I was shocked,” said Tony, who joined a room full of people who were crying their eyes out.
“When I came to pull him off the court, I said 'Dad, you're a PCS graduate now,' and he said 'I'm crying!'” smiled Mary Lee. “And I said 'But so is the entire gym.'"
Now, the entire town can celebrate with Tony and all of Portville’s veterans, thanks in part to Portville Central School’s National Honor Society.
As part of their “Hometown Heroes” project, big banners decorate Main Street in Portville with the names and faces of each veteran who signs up.
Any veteran who has lived in Portville qualifies to join the Main Street banners.
So now, with all of that celebration in mind, let’s go back to my original question: how did you celebrate your high school graduation?
For Tony, the answer was easy.
"I went down to the Legion and had a beer,” Tony grinned. “Several.”