A 94-year-old man will graduate from West Virginia University (WVU) this month after working on his degree on and off for more than 75 years.

Anthony Brutto of Morgantown enrolled at WVU in 1939 and started studying engineering, physical education and industrial arts before being drafted into World War II and serving in the Army Air Corps, according to a WVU press release.

He started his degree again when he came back home, but he soon had to stop taking classes because his wife fell ill.

From then on, he worked as a machinist in factories that manufactured aircraft before retiring in the mid-’80s to make wooden sculptures of birds and wild animals, as well as jewelry. But he still kept plugging away at his coursework.

“It was always important to me to graduate,” he said, according to the release.

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