He's been a Windsor firefighter, a city councillor and, now, at the age of 73, Ron Jones can scratch one more accomplishment off his bucket list.
He's about to become a university graduate.
In May, he'll receive his Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Political Science from the University of Windsor.
Jones told AM800's'The Morning Drive', it always bothered him that he never finished his post-secondary education so, in 2015, he headed back to the classroom.
"I just never finished it. Something that was undone and one of the grandsons, Darius, was after me on a regular basis - the fact that I never finished and he said 'why have you not finished' and I didn't have an excuse," he says.
Jones says the desire to graduate stems from a guidance councillor in high school who told him not to expect much out of life.
"He told me that I, academically, would never achieve anything. I wanted to be a firefighter and he said you can't because people of colour were not firefighters in those days and it was true."
Jones eventually did become a firefighter, rising to the rank of district chief before retiring 35 years later.
He still has final exams to write before he graduates and he won't be alone on the stage. Three of his grandchildren are also graduating this year -- two at the University of Windsor and one at the University of Michigan.