'Grandpa, We Did It': Grandfather, 88, And Granddaughter, 23, Share Graduation Stage

SAN ANTONIO, TX — Rene Neira has been trying to get his bachelor’s degree since the 1950s. But being a loving husband and father to five got in the way of the now-88-year-old Texan.

Neira took a class here and there. But there was always something pulling him away — his family, his banking career, his passion for his community.

Neira, whose parents immigrated to the United States from Mexico, was involved in the Chicano movement and helped build San Antonio’s South Side into an economic force.

“He was very passionate about urban and economic development of San Antonio's South Side. In the 1960s, he did a lot of advocacy through civic engagement,” Neira’s granddaughter, Melanie Salazar, told NBC’s “Today” show in an email.

“He participated in rallies and marches and got involved with local government,” Salazar continued in the email. “From that time, one of his life’s goal was to earn a degree in economics.”

He went back to school in the 1980s, the 1990s and again after the turn of the new century, Salazar told CBS News’ “The Uplift.”

But he never got around to finishing what he’d started all those years ago at St. Mary’s College until 2016, when he put some action behind his encouragement to Salazar to get a college education.

They got their associate degrees from Palo Alto College together, then enrolled together in 2017 at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Once there, Neira made his presence known to other students.

“From what has been shared with me, he always had something to say, especially if his professors had different opinions than him," Salazar told CBS. "And there were often times a professor would be talking about the past and say, 'Hey Rene, you lived through that time period, tell us more about what you remember during that time.’

“His classmates, I think, were motivated and inspired to see him.”

Salazar told “Good Morning America” her grandfather has continued to be a source of inspiration as he navigated the challenges involved in continuing his education.

“Through hearing loss, not having a car, taking public transportation, advocating for himself on campus, I really admired his ganas, which is like strength or perseverance, to keep going no matter what,” she said.

On Dec. 11, after she’d picked up her own degree — a bachelor of arts in communications — Salazar wheeled her grandfather to the stage to receive his degree of recognition in economics.

"I was saying to him, 'Grandpa, you did it, we did it, college is over, you did it.' And my grandpa was kind of tired at that time and he asked, 'I did what?'" Salazar said told CBS. "But it was definitely a special moment and to be able to say, 'You did it' and that he will be able to receive his degree in the mail to have and hold, I am definitely proud of my grandpa."

His last time around in school, a stroke and the coronavirus pandemic got in Neira’s way, just as life had in the past, Salazar told “Good Morning America.”

He took a medical leave, again putting his education on hold. His declining health and difficulty navigating online classes set him further behind. With the family patriarch in hospice care, Salazar and other family members reached out to university officials and inquired about a degree of recognition.

“It was the week of graduation that we were told that he would be able to graduate,” Salazar told the “Today” show. “We were really pushing for it because we were hoping, since his health is declining, that he could have that memory before he passes.”

Neira worried that making a big fuss of it would steal the spotlight from his granddaughter.

“I told him, ‘This is our moment. I want to share it with you,’” Salazar told the ABC morning program. “I'm so proud of my grandpa, and I’m so thankful I was able to have this moment, this memory, with him.”

Neira and Salazar didn’t have any classes together, but they carpooled at times and studied together, Salazar told “Good Morning America.”

"We would get lunch together and be in the library together and just work silently side by side," Salazar said, adding she often helped her grandfather navigate doing schoolwork online. "There were also many times where I drove him to school during the seasons when he didn't have his car.

"I was also the president of a club at school for a while and there were times when he would come to my club meetings," Salazar added. "That was really special because I could always show him off and shout out that my grandpa was there."

Piloting him to the stage to receive his degree of recognition was a poignant last chapter in her grandfather’s educational journey, Salazar told CBS.

“Before he dies, before he will pass, he was able to walk the stage, like he had been working towards since the '50s," she said.

Salazar shared images of her and her grandfather on social media.