Nola Ochs is an American college graduate. On May 14, 2007 she became a Guinness World Record holder as the world's oldest college graduate when she received her diploma at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas. She earned a general studies degree with an emphasis in history, graduating alongside her granddaughter, Alexandra Ochs, who was 21 years old at the time. A native of Jetmore, Kansas, Ochs was born in 1911 and took her first college class from FHSU in 1930 when the university was called the Kansas State College. Nola and her husband, Vernon Ochs, raised four sons on the family farm. She took college courses again from Dodge City Community College in Dodge City, Kansas after her husband of 39 years died in 1972. After learning that she was only 30 hours shy of a bachelor?s degree, Nola moved 100 miles from the family farm to an FHSU university apartment in Hays to finish her degree. During her first year at Fort Hays, Ochs told news reporters that after she graduated, she wanted to be a storyteller on a cruise ship. Among her accomplishments, Ochs was named the 2007 Kansas Woman Leader of the Year and was given her diploma by Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. 

November 22nd, 1911 in Kansas  /  Died:   Dec 9th, 2016 - aged 105