Alice Thomas is the only student at McGeorge School of Law who grew up during the Great Depression, the only one old enough to have worked as a waitress at a drug store or held down a job called elevator operator.
Perhaps the oldest law student in the United States, Thomas, who turns 78 next month, has designs on being a lawyer. But it hasn't been easy.
Thomas is also the only student at McGeorge to endure the rigors of law school while caring for a longtime companion who was dying of Alzheimer's.
Thomas had a career as a purchasing agent and project manager in the construction industry when she met "the most handsome man I had seen in years" and was soon enjoying a relationship that would last 28 years. The couple never married.
In 1999, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The decline was gradual and brutal.
Still, in 2002, Thomas enrolled at McGeorge.
At times, the challenges proved too much. There were days "he didn't know who he was or where he was," she said.
Twice, her grades slipped below the school's 2.33 minimum grade-point average, and Thomas was forced to reapply. It was humiliating for Thomas to see her law school career slip away.
"I was used to being at the head of the class and all of a sudden I'm at the bottom," she said.
Thomas persevered. Then, in November 2005, her companion died. The event was crushing, but it also removed the sometimes-overwhelming obligations that had hindered her at McGeorge.
"She's given a lot of respect,"said Kathleen Friedrich, a McGeorge professor and supervising attorney of the school's elder law clinic, where Thomas holds down a $15-an-hour part-time job. "It takes some level of spunk to do what she is doing. If you can stand up for yourself, you can stand up for somebody else."
"It took tremendous courage to come to law school at her age, to come with all these young people and then to do it while she is a caregiver to someone with Alzheimer's," Friedrich said.
Thomas will be a rookie lawyer when she's close to 80.
"A lot of people my age think I'm out of my mind," she said with a laugh. "But a lot of older people just sit and watch the grass grow and they end up disintegrating."
The big question is why? Why go through the notoriously difficult challenges of law school and why start a practice so late in life? Why spend her savings and take out loans just to pay for school? Why learn all you have to learn and do all you have to do just to pass the bar exam, if you're only going to use that knowledge for a year or two or three or four?
Thomas begins her answer with the practical things. She doesn't have a pension, so she'd like to earn good money helping others. She can't afford to retire.
She also believes in lifelong learning, in staring down challenges and overcoming obstacles. She wants to draw attention to Alzheimer's and maybe do something about it.
And maybe, with all she's been through and after clawing her way back from academic humiliation, she'll inspire others to do the impossible.
"When you quit learning something new, you might as well crawl into a coffin and pull the dirt in after you," Thomas said.
Thomas is already making a difference with her legal acumen. During a recent interview at the clinic where she works, a large decorated cake arrived, courtesy of a grateful client.
Thomas was clearly pleased. The client, a caregiver for the elderly who had no money for a lawyer, was finally back on her feet.
"She married this gentleman and he just disappeared," Thomas explained.
When she graduates after one more year of law school, Thomas plans to set up a small legal practice with a friend. She wants to keep helping the little people, though she says she has no interest in taking criminal cases.
She has no idea how long her career will last. There are no plans to stop working and learning and thriving, and certainly no plans to sit and watch the grass grow.
Call The Bee's Blair Anthony Robertson, (916) 321-1099.
