COURTLAND— Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Dunlow will take a second walk down the aisle next month, on June 19th.
The Branchville husband and wife won’t be renewing their vows. Both will receive their High School diplomas during Southampton High School’s graduation ceremony at the SHS Gymnasium in Courtland.
Leroy Dunlow, 40, will leave with 23 years of High School under his belt, and will be awarded the persistence award, which is given each year to a graduating senior that exhibits triumph in the face of adversity. His wife, Tessy Dunlow, 33, will receive her diploma after 12 years of hard work, which was often put on hold for several extended absences and maternity leave.
It hasn’t been easy for the parents of fourteen.
|
The proud couple on their wedding day. |
Leroy couldn’t find a job with most employers requiring a High School diploma. He was often picked over, with many of the jobs going to his younger classmates. In 2009, entering his 19th year as a freshman at Franklin High School, Leroy moved his family into Southampton County. “I found out that Franklin’s school system was really holding me back,” said Leroy, “Their test scores were the worst in the state, and it really limited my ability to learn.” At about the same time, his wife was pregnant with their 12th child, Leronda. “We had to pass for our children,” said Tessy. |
Their oldest son, Tessin, graduated from SHS in 2007. Since that time, he has supported his family by earning money for the household with his assistant manager position at KFC/Taco Bell. “We couldn’t have done it without Tessin,” said Leroy. “That boy went to work making them quesadillas for the townsfolk, so we could stay in school, we real proud of him.”
The couple chose to continue their education until they both graduated, supporting the other, and ingratiating themselves with their younger student counterparts.
“They both became pretty popular with their classmates,” said SHS principal Audrey Antiquator. “At all the dances, the students could always count on Leroy bringing cases of Bud Light in the back of his pickup. We’d suspend him constantly, but how are you going to tell a 40-year-old man he can’t have a beer? Then by the end of every prom, there was Leroy and Tessy out there grinding on each other, getting to third base quite often. Tessy ended up pregnant after 13 of her 14 senior proms. How can you tell a 35-year-old woman not to procreate with her husband? We just figured it was free Sex-Ed for the students.”
As they continued taking classes, the Dunlows’ SHS classmates aided their cause, allowing all of the couple’s young children to be kept by the childcare classes during the day. “It opened up a new world,” Leroy said. “I had been in school going on 35 years. The toughest part was getting adjusted the first three decades. It’s hard, you know? I almost quit.”
Now, the couple encourages others with families to give it their best.
“I didn’t think I was going to stay for the long haul,” said Leroy. “I could have taken the easy route, have my cousin Odell – the one with all the brains in the family – take my GED for me, but I wanted to earn it.”
Leroy was recently hired at Sentara Hospital, where he will serve as a human guinea pig, which will begin operating in June.
“They’ll use me to try out different vaccines for diseases,” Leroy said. “They’ll inject me with a virus, and then stick a bunch of needles in me trying to find a cure. I couldn’t have done this without my diploma.”
Tessy has plans to continue her education at PDCCC, where she will study cosmetology. “The planets and comets have always interested me,” said Tessy, “so I figured why not learn more about them?”
Their children are Tessin, 24; Leroy Jr., 20; Tessina, 19, Leeandra, 18, Leroy III, 16, Tussin, 15, Jim, 14, Teshonda 13, TeeRoy, 11, Leessy, 9, Tessy Leroy IV esq, 7, Leronda, 4, Trojan, 3, Audrey Odell, 1, and the Dunlows currently have another on the way.