Grover Jones

At 85 years old, Grover Jones is Bowling Green High School’s newest graduate.

Jones never actually graduated after quitting school in the 11th grade and joining the Air Force in 1951. Former Purples boys’ basketball coach D.G. Sherrill recently decided that the wait for a diploma had lasted long enough for the man who has dedicated more than 60 years to Bowling Green athletics.

To his surprise, Jones finally received his diploma during a special presentation at the city school board meeting Monday night.

“It was like a dream come true,” he said. “I never thought about it and it never entered my mind. Coach Sherrill invited me down and it stunned me and I didn’t know what to think. It blew my mind, really. I never dreamed of getting one.”

Jones left BGHS in 1951 to join the military and never received a diploma.{script charset=”utf-8” type=”text/javascript” src=”http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”}{/script}He spent 3½ years in Germany before returning to Bowling Green. He started working for Consolidated Paper Group in 1956 and still works there as a salesman today.

He worked the game clock for Bowling Green girls’ and boys’ basketball games for 47 years up until three years ago. He also worked the chains for Purples football games for more than 20 years.

But Jones is still heavily involved with the school’s athletics programs. One can find him sitting in a chair by the baseline of Purples home games and offering bubble gum to players and anyone else. During the school board meeting Monday, Sherrill told how when the Purples won the Region 4 championship in 2009, Jones hopped on the team bus headed to Lexington before any players or coaches had boarded.

Sherrill said from time to time, Jones would mention to him that he never received his high school diploma, but it was brought up mostly for simple conversation.

Jones never expected he’d ever actually see it one day.

“It’s just something that needed to happen a long time ago,” Sherrill said. “He’s such a caring and loving guy about this place and the kids. He was there from beginning to end and was so supportive and his love and passion for this place, it was just a small way to give something back.

“He left high school and served his country. The minute he got (back) here, he’s been serving this place in any role possible and would do anything you asked him to do. That’s just how special a guy he is.”{&end}