From dropping out of high school to serving in the Army and being incarcerated, 79-year-old Rev. Willie Ryals has faced many obstacles that prevented him from earning his college degree.
But the Quincy, Florida native will be receiving his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice July 21 — just three days ahead of his 80th birthday.
“I’m happy for myself, because my father always wanted me to go after a degree,” Ryals told the Tallahassee Democrat Wednesday. “He’s passed and gone, but I’m keeping this promise.”
The dream will soon become a reality as Ryals, who is an associate pastor of Zion Hope Community Baptist Church in Gadsden County, gets ready to go to Atlanta, Georgia in a few days where his degree will be conferred by the American Intercontinental University, an online school that he started attending in 2021.
Ryals is currently working on his capstone project on solitary confinement and mental health, and he says his current grade in the course is a 95%.
His wife of 26 years, Mandy Woodard Ryals, expressed how proud she is of him as he gets closer to achieving the milestone.
Other graduation news:FAMU alumnus, who’s already in the Guinness World Records book, earns high engineering honor
More:Gadsden Co. High School scholar, with 32 college acceptances, awarded Bill Gates Scholarship
Related news:Seeing both sides: Quincy native on what it’s like to be a Black woman in law enforcement
“It was a tight run,” Mandy said on a call with the Democrat. “He would miss some of his classes because of my doctor’s appointments and would have to catch up, but he never gave up.”
“He works all night and sometimes would have to prop his legs up for the swelling, but he would still go after it,” she added. “I’m proud of him and very, very happy.”
‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way’
Ryals, who was born in Tallahassee, attended Florida A&M University’s Developmental Research School but dropped out when he was 17 years old to become a traveling vocalist with several bands.
His love for singing came from growing up in church and joining a community choir as a child.
Although Ryals joined the U.S. Army in 1962 — two years after dropping out of high school — and was permanently stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, he was able to continue his interest in entertainment by working with show business personalities, including The Rays.
But after being discharged in 1964, Ryals was sentenced to 10 and 20 concurrent year sentences in prison in 1967 at 24 years old after being convicted of aggravated manslaughter, where he says he was acting in self-defense due to a house break-in, and armed robbery — a crime he says he was wrongly convicted of.
Despite being in a penitentiary in Washington during his sentence, Ryals was able to finish high school while incarcerated and took college courses at the University of Washington through a residential release program for inmates.
His hard work led to his early release in 1971, and the experience is what shifted his interest to criminal justice.
“While I was in prison, I saw a need for criminal justice reform,” Ryals said. “There are too many young Blacks going to jail for crimes that they didn’t commit, and there needs to be some changes.”
Prior to working on his criminal justice degree through American Intercontinental University, Ryals worked as a traffic signal technician in Tallahassee for over four years while attending Lively Technical College to become a licensed electrician.
Related news:TCC names Shelly Bell its new vice president of workforce innovation, replacing Kim Moore
But with all the different factors that played a part in Ryals’ journey in life, receiving his bachelor’s degree has always been an end goal in mind that he was determined to reach.
In addition, Ryals has applied for a Class C Investigator License and hopes to be an activist, helping people who are wrongly convicted.
“I want to be able to let young people know that regardless of whatever the circumstances are, where there’s a will, there’s a way,” he said. “I trust in God, and he’s been directing my path.”
Willie and Mandy, along with their daughter Marionette Taylor, will be traveling to Atlanta, Georgia July 20 ahead of the degree conferral on the following day.
“It can be accomplished, no matter what situation you’ve been through,” he said.
Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on twitter @tarahjean_.
Never miss a story: Subscribe to the Tallahassee Democrat using the link at the top of the page.
