East Texas A&M University alum James “Larry” Story is finally hanging up his hat, retiring from teaching following a 59-year career at Tarrant County College (TCC). He is leaving as the longest-tenured educator.

Story graduated from East Texas State University (now East Texas A&M) in 1967 with an M.A. in History. Following graduation, he had a short stint teaching at ET before taking on the job at TCC, then known as Tarrant County Junior College, which had newly opened for the Fall 1967 semester.

According to a profile of Story by the Fort Worth Report, when he arrived to teach at TCC, the school was so new that the sidewalks were not even finished. Fifty-nine years later, Story retired as the last founding faculty member of the institution.

Since its opening in 1967, TCC has grown to encompass five total campuses across Tarrant County and serves more than 40,000 students. At TCC, Story taught history his entire career and created an academic lineage in which professors at the college were taught by other professors who had studied under him.

Read more about Story's career in the Fort Worth Report.