{"id":1637,"date":"2026-06-12T14:35:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T14:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1637"},"modified":"2026-06-12T14:35:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T14:35:23","slug":"watch-woman-celebrates-100th-birthday-with-honorary-diploma-from-saguaro-high-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1637","title":{"rendered":"WATCH: Woman celebrates 100th birthday with honorary diploma from Saguaro High School"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

SCOTTSDALE, AZ \u2014 This week, Mae Defiel received a surprise of a lifetime: At 99 years old, she finally got her high school diploma!<\/p>

Read more Third juvenile charged as Surprise police continue investigation into teen attack<\/a><\/p>

Defiel attended high school in Cleveland, but her mother pulled her out of school to help the family and work. <\/p>

Her then-future husband served the country in World War II. After getting married at 21, she and her husband lived in Scottsdale, where they became business owners.<\/p>

When Defiel’s family asked what she wanted for her 100th birthday in about two weeks, all she said was that she wanted to get her high school diploma.<\/p>

Read more State agriculture veterinarian speaks about the screwworm recently found in the Southwest<\/a><\/p>

During the Scottsdale Unified School District’s board meeting this week, Defiel finally got her diploma, complete with a cap and gown. She also became an honorary member of Saguaro High School\u2019s first graduating class.<\/p>

In the video player above, ABC15’s Elenee Dao talked with Defiel about celebrating an incredible century of life by reaching a long-awaited milestone.<\/i><\/p>

Read more Elon Musk on brink of becoming world\u2019s first trillionaire as SpaceX IPO launches<\/a><\/p>

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This week, Mae Defiel received a surprise of a lifetime: at 99 years old, she finally got her high school diploma!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uplifting-arizona"],"yoast_head":"\nWATCH: Woman celebrates 100th birthday with honorary diploma from Saguaro High School - Arizona Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1637\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WATCH: Woman celebrates 100th birthday with honorary diploma from Saguaro High School - 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