An act of kindness leads to farmer receiving his college degree after 50 years

From his home in Troy, Kansas, Dennis Ruhnke watched images of New York hospitals overwhelmed by coronavirus patients, and knew he had to do something to help.

A retired farmer, Ruhnke had an unused N95 face mask, which he sent to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) along with a note asking Cuomo to please pass the mask to a doctor or nurse. He never expected Cuomo to even read the letter, let alone share it during one of his daily news briefings, calling Ruhnke's action "humanity at its best."

His act of kindness inspired local officials and a neighbor to try to fulfill one of Ruhnke's dreams: receiving his college diploma. In 1971, Ruhnke was just two credits shy of earning his degree in agriculture from Kansas State University when he had to drop out. His father had died, and he needed to take over the family farm. Ruhnke always thought about going back, but by the time he looked into it, his credits were no longer valid, and he would have had to start over.

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Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) and Kansas State President Richard Myers found a way to get around that, awarding Ruhnke with his degree on Tuesday. "Dennis is a Kansas agriculturist in every sense of the word, and today, we're simply giving him the paperwork to make it official," Kelly said. Ruhnke told The Mercury that people have been asking him how they can help, and he tells them to "just pay it forward as much as you can afford to do so" in honor of first responders and those who have died of COVID-19. Catherine Garcia