When Evelyn Buckley first roamed the campus Western students walk today, some of the only buildings standing were Edens Hall, Old Main and Wilson library. Living in the dorms cost $15 per quarter, $1.75 would buy groceries for a week and less than $1,000 would pay for a three-year bachelor’s degree.

With 103 years of life experience radiating from her tiny frame, Buckley holds nobility as the oldest living Western graduate.

“Every day is a good day when you’re 103,” Buckley said.

Buckley graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree at Western in 1944 and now lives at the Warm Beach Senior Community in Stanwood.  

Born December 13, 1906, in Colville, Wash., Buckley developed a love for teaching in the fourth grade. Buckley said she used to fake being sick for all of her tests once she figured out her mother told her teacher to send her home any time she appeared ill. This tactic, however, caused her to flunk the fourth grade. During her second time around, she had a different teacher who inspired her to teach from that point on.

“I loved her; she was just wonderful,” Buckley said. “I was going to be a teacher and I never gave up the idea.”

Buckley has dedicated her life to teaching—specifically, corrective reading classes for students with dyslexia.  She spent 26 years teaching and conducting tests for student placement in the Shoreline School District and retired in 1972. However, she continued tutoring for another 20 years.

She graduated from Bellingham Normal School in 1928, which granted certificates necessary to be an elementary school teacher. She then proceeded to get her bachelor’s degree at Western and her master’s degree from the University of Washington.

Buckley said she spent most of her time at Western studying and doing custodial work in order to pay her way through college.  

“I was short [on] money and my roommate was [attending] on borrowed money so she had to be careful too,” Buckley said. “We didn’t do much other than go to school; I loved going to school so it didn’t make any difference.”

Buckley said she lived with her friend in a Western-affiliated house below High Street, where the rooms were rented out to students through the university.

In 1928, Buckley married Merton Buckley. Because married women were not allowed to be teachers at the time and it was hard to get a job, she had to keep her marriage a secret for two years.  

By the time World War II began, Buckley had a teaching certificate, but no degree.  With her husband eligible to be drafted, she decided to go back to school.
“I said to my husband, ‘I’m not going to sit around; I’m going to go back to school to teach because you’ll probably be in the Army,’” Buckley said.

Her husband was not drafted but her rationale proved beneficial as she was able to get a job more easily due to the increasing job openings the war provided.

After a long absence from Western’s campus, she said she came back for a graduation ceremony about two or three years ago and could not find her way around on her own.

“I couldn’t believe the buildings that were there,” Buckley said. “I hadn’t been back for a long time.”

Although she has difficulty hearing and diminishing eyesight, Buckley remains positive.

“God has been awful good to me and answered many prayers; I have no complaints,” Buckley said. “If I complained, I’d just be a big bore.”

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