High School Courtship Turns into College Romance and Lifetime Partners at Fort Valley State
LARRY & MARY ETTA THOMAS
When ninth grader Mary Etta Johnson (14) met tenth grader Larry D. Thomas (15) at Pearl High School in Madison, Georgia, she already knew she was going to college at Fort Valley State because her oldest sister had recently graduated from there and her parents had been grooming her and all her siblings to follow suit. Larry soon learned that either he enrolled in college or be drafted in the U.S. Army to fight in the Vietnam War, so he enrolled in FVSC in Fall 1968. One year later, Mary Etta followed him, and their courtship blossomed amid all the glamour and drama of college life. After two years of successful studies, dating, and college indoctrination, the two lovebirds decided marriage was the next natural step. The wedding took place over the summer in 1971, and they reported back to campus in September as husband-and-wife full-time students with a promise, to their parents, to earn a degree before starting a family. Over the next two years, they associated with several other married student couples who shared their perspective on beginning their new life journey. They balanced studying, working menial jobs, and socializing while collectively striving to graduate on time or as soon as possible. It helped tremendously that FVSC provided the supportive foundation that allowed them to keep their focus on their academic goals while learning how to live, love, and enjoy a full social environment in the newly built married student apartments and take classes year-round.
They both graduated two years later, Mary Etta with honors with a BA in Sociology in June 1973 and Larry with a BA in Business Administration in August. Fast forward, long story short, Larry and Dr. Mary Etta Thomas will be celebrating their 54th wedding anniversary on September 4, 2025, with their three children (1 attended FVSU, 2 HBCU college graduates), three grandchildren (1 currently attending an HBCU), and two sons-in-law.
