Newswise — As a part-time student and full-time professional, Robert Wagstaff was enrolled in his next-to-last class this spring, planning to graduate from Texas A&M University-San Antonio in the fall with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. In April, complications from COVID-19 claimed 30-year-old Robert’s life. The university will recognize his academic achievement and celebrate his life by posthumously awarding him the undergraduate degree he sought to further his career and will present it to his surviving family.
Like his A&M-San Antonio classmates, Robert Wagstaff had not been on campus since mid-March, before he contracted and eventually succumbed to the virus April 10. He was among the earliest COVID-19 deaths in the San Antonio community.
Even in her grief, Robert’s mother said her clearest memory of her son is of how his compassion and humanity shined through. “I’ll never forget the very last time I was able to talk to my son face-to-face,” Audrey Wagstaff said. “They were loading him into the ambulance, and he could tell how worried I was. And all he would say is, ‘Don’t worry, Mom. I’m going to be O.K.’ That’s just how he was – even when he was so sick, he was mostly worried about me.”
Texas A&M-San Antonio will honor Robert Wagstaff and his persistence, academic talent and accomplishments with a posthumous degree as a member of the Class of 2020. Robert’s uncle, ReShard Wagstaff, is planning to receive the degree in Robert’s honor during A&M-San Antonio’s rescheduled graduation ceremony, originally scheduled for May 15, now planned for Sept. 25, 2020.
“The degree means everything to me and my family. To hear that he did earn the degree, that all his work is recognized, and to share that with your family means everything,” Audrey Wagstaff said, noting that after having previously earned an associate’s degree and taking other college courses, her son began his studies at A&M-San Antonio in 2014. He kept at his goal one or two courses at a time – always earning top grades, Audrey proudly recalled of her only child. “Now, we’re all so proud, our whole family, that he has earned that degree.”
A&M-San Antonio President Cynthia Teniente-Matson said that awarding the degree to Robert Wagstaff, and including him in the class of 2020, is a symbol of his tenacious pursuit of a degree and a well-deserved achievement. “Robert was someone who just kept working and working, taking a class or two even as he held a full-time job,” she said. “He truly embodied the work ethic and the dedication to learning that many of our students represent.”
“There has been so much loss and grief caused by this terrible pandemic,” she added. “Robert’s passing so close to completing his degree was a true tragedy. We’re honored to include him in our graduating class, and we extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to his family. He earned this, and we’re proud to claim him as a Texas A&M-San Antonio graduate.”
More information: https://www.tamusa.edu/commencement/robert-wagstaff.html
Robert Wagstaff’s obituary: https://www.dwbrooksfuneralhome.com/obituary/robert-wagstaff
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