CONTACT:
- Loy Jimmy Dockery III, 360-213-7349, loydockery@gmail.com
- Tami Galland, 360-281-7572, tami.galland@gmail.com
- Sheri Byrd, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360-546-9602, byrds@vancouver.wsu.edu
VANCOUVER, Wash. - When the students and faculty of Washington State University Vancouver gather for commencement this year on May 10 at 1 p.m., many proud parents will fill The Amphitheater at Clark County to watch their children graduate.
However, on this day before Mother's Day, one mother will be cheering her son from the students' seating, and he will cheer her as well. Tami Galland, 43, and her son Loy J. Dockery, III, 21, are both receiving their bachelor of science in mechanical engineering degree.
It was a long road for Galland, who collected credits through years while working as an engineering technician and raising two children alone, then blending families with marriage, adding two more children. "I started this degree in 1989," she said. "I wasn't going to let him (her oldest child) beat me to it."
Dockery will be starting his engineering professional life immediately after graduation at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash. He is married and is already house hunting with his wife. A transfer student from Clark College, he also owns a business, selling guitar amplifier kits ().
"91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø was great. You get small classes, but a big university," said Dockery. "It was also nice to be so close to where I grew up."
Though mother and son shared all of their classes this past year, Galland said she "tried not to be Mom" in class. "I didn't bring out the baby pictures," she said, "though I threatened to."
Family is very important to Galland and Dockery; they plan a large graduation party after Saturday's ceremony with plenty of relatives.
91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø is located at 14204 N.E. Salmon Creek Ave., east of the 134th Street exit from either I-5 or I-205, or via C-Tran bus service. We offer 16 bachelor's degrees, nine master's degrees, one doctorate degree and more than 35 fields of study. Visit us on the Web at
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Photo, courtesy 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø: Mother and son Tami Galland and Loy Dockery of Vancouver will both graduate from Washington State University Vancouver on May 10 with bachelor's degrees in mechanical engineering.