Never Too Old to Learn

Author: Denise May
Issue: 2008 March

If we live long enough, most of us experience a few regrets - a missed opportunity, a bad choice or maybe a childhood dream that just never materialized. For many, time too quickly slips by, leaving us to believe one day that it’s simply too late. But not Marvin Tyler. This Oklahoma senior simply refused to let Father Time stop him from finding his true purpose and reaching the goal of a lifetime.

At 71, Tyler holds the distinct honor of being Oklahoma Baptist University’s oldest graduate. He is also pastor of a church he organized, Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church. Both are admirable achievements at any age, but even more inspiring is the story of Tyler’s road to an education that prepared him to spread God’s word. It was a long and difficult path.

“I’ve wanted a college degree almost as long as I can remember,” said Tyler. “My mother was only able to finish the 8th grade. Even when I was young, I looked around and saw that people who had an education were getting the better jobs. I was determined to make it.”

When Tyler graduated high school, college simply wasn’t an option. So he decided to join the United States Air Force, hoping the government would open the doors to earning his business degree. In 1957 he enrolled at the University of Maryland at Greenland, but round-the-clock shift work in the military didn’t leave time to attend classes.

Tyler decided to make a career in the Air Force, temporarily putting his dream of a college education on hold. He retired from the military in 1978, after 23 years of service. Tyler settled in Oklahoma, and once again picked up his old dreams, dusted them off and enrolled at Rose State College to obtain his elusive business degree.

“The military didn’t pay much in retirement benefits back then,” said Tyler. “And I had a family to support. I had to work full time while attending school.”

In 1984, when Tyler was 48, he did something that gave his life new meaning. He acknowledged a calling to serve God that he had first known at the age of fourteen.

“My father and grandfather were both pastors and I saw how difficult a life in the ministry can be,” said Tyler. “But even as a teenager, I knew I had the calling too.

Never Too Old to Learn

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