WAURIKA — When Mary Peck decided to start college at the tender age of 58, she received some reaction that could have been anticipated — friends, relatives and chronological peers were impressed, but wary.

After all, college can be a tough row to hoe for a 20something, but returning to school after four decades away was going to be a major challenge for a 50something.

“A male cousin of mine wrote me a letter and said, ‘I can’t go back to school at this point, because the idea scares me,’ and he was about 45 then,” Peck said, recalling some of the response when her academic intention became known.

Still, the former Waurika resident was resolute — and cautious.

“I took one course to see what it was like; to see if I could do it,” Peck explained. “I got a ‘C,’ and I kind of liked being in school again.

“So then I took two courses and I think I got a ‘B’ and a ‘C,’ and then I really got serious. Going to school got into me, and I decided I was going to go for as long as I could.

“Once I got halfway through, I thought that maybe I could get a bachelor’s.”

Mary Peck did achieve the requirements for a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M-Commerce; University, with a major in counseling and a minor in psychology. And she didn’t stop there. In August, Peck received a master’s degree in counseling, also with a minor in psychology.

At age 64, she may have been the oldest student participating in Texas A&M-Commerce;’s summer commencement ceremony. Several friends and family attended the graduation, which added to Peck’s joy from having overcome challenges.

“Challenges?” Well, yes, it should be plural, because age wasn’t the only obstacle standing between Peck and those sheepskins.

Mary Peck is blind.

Although she began the college venture with some degree of sight, by the time Peck received her two degrees, retinitis pigmentosa had completely robbed her of vision.

Not only did she have to deal with the age issue, Peck’s school days were spent being led across campus and from classroom to classroom by Holly, her trusted guide dog. While other students took notes, Mary Peck spent her final years of college making use of a closed caption television system, and technology came into play in other ways.

In addition to CCTV, she used a Windows XP Professional software and also a device called JAWS, a book scanner that downloads into a “talking screen.”

Retinitis pigmentosa is an inherited disease marked by retinal degeneration. It progresses to total vision loss, usually at a slow pace.

Recounting the effects of the disease through her college years, Peck said, “When I first started (college), I could pick up a paper and read, but one year after I enrolled, my vision was getting dim.

“I had to take a speech class as a requirement, so I took it early and got it done while I could still read the speech. After that, I starting using the CCTV.”

Peck’s vision difficulties started when she was young.

She was born in 1943 in Joplin, Mo. and spent most of her childhood in Springfield, Mass. Her family moved to Texas in 1961, where the vision problems were first noticed.

“Retinitis pigmentosa is a very slow disease,” Peck said. “I could see almost perfectly as a kid, except at night. Then when I was a teenager, I noticed that I couldn’t see well at night.

“My step-father used to tease me about being clumsy. But one day I bumped into something, and he said to my mother, ‘Ruthie, she’s not clumsy, she can’t see.”

Thus began years of living with not one malady, but two. “(Doctors) diagnosed that I had Usher Syndrome with RP, which is a hearing loss along with retinitis. So I was having both deafness and vision loss,” she explained.

“In Dallas, a doctor told me I only had 5 percent hearing in one ear, but after a bunch of tests, he said I could gain 30 percent hearing if I had a cochlear implant.

“So, I had the cochlear implant, and my hearing in that ear went all with way to 87 percent, which surprised us and the doctor, too.”

Showing a persistence and focus that would eventually lead to the college degrees, Peck didn’t allow hearing and sight problems to limit her life experiences.

“I was grateful that (retinitis pigmentosa) is slow progressing, because I’ve done a lot in the time it’s allowed,” she said. “I rode horses — I’ve even done rodeo. I raised two kids and now have four grandchildren, who all live around Dallas.

“From ’72 to ’87, I worked for the City of Dallas. I was a proofreader and I worked in the police department as a secretary and did lots of jobs. If it was clerical work, I did it.”

The turn of the century became a pivotal time in Peck’s life. It’s when Holly became her companion and invaluable aide, and it’s when Peck began considering a return to school.

“I went to Florida in 2000 because I thought I wanted to retire,” she said. “While I was there, I decided to get a seeing eye dog, so I went to New Jersey and trained with the dogs, and it was amazing what they could do. I got Holly in 2000.”

Around the same time, Peck also got restless.

“I was antsy and discontent,” she recalled. “I left Florida and moved back to Texas in July of 2001, and I was living in Commerce in a house close to A&M.; I decided I wanted to go to college, and I knew Holly could take me.

“I wanted to start the new century doing something different.”

And she did. Once Peck tested the college waters and found them agreeable, she plunged in neck deep. First came the bachelor’s degree and a counseling internship at Promise House in Dallas, where Peck counseled adolescents and their families.

She’s also been counseling students with disabilities, through a program at North Lake College.

Over the Labor Day weekend, Peck was in Waurika, spending some time with her sister, Kate Couture. It was a return to a familiar place, and it was also part of laying the groundwork for Peck’s next challenge.

“I’m thinking about moving here,” she said. “Right now, I’m living with one of my daughter’s in Irving (Texas), but in September I’m going to move here and find a job. I can work some more — I’m not done, yet.

“I lived in Waurika from 1986 to ’97, so I know the town and a lot of the people. I don’t know if I can find counseling work in Waurika, but I’ve been checking the job market in Duncan and Wichita Falls and, maybe, Ardmore.”

One thing is certain, Peck won’t sit idle.

“Maybe I could work for the United Way or some group like that, doing counseling work,” she proposed. “I also want to get my LPC, licensed professional counseling certification, which would take 3,000 hours of counseling.”

Mary grinned and added, “I already have 300 hours, so I just need 2,700 more! I think I could do that.”

Given Mary Peck’s ability to overcome challenges and obstacles, there’s good reason to believe she could.