BANGOR – Hugo Frati has the whole world in front of him.

After 59 years, the 78-year-old Hampden resident and World War II veteran finally has received his high school diploma.

“Now you can go out and take the SATs,” Hugo’s brother Peter Frati joked Thursday.

Peter Frati of Brunswick, a 1948 graduate of Bangor High School, was responsible for bringing together members of the Frati family and Bangor school officials for a surprise ceremony Thursday at BHS.

Principal Norris Nickerson led an unsuspecting Hugo Frati into an auditorium at BHS where his wife, Darlene Frati, his two brothers, Peter and Orlando, his two sons, Kent and Doug, and others were waiting for him.

“Do you have any idea what this is about?” Nickerson asked.

Frati shook his head. He last was at Bangor High School in March 1945 when he dropped out to join the U.S. Navy.

“It came to our attention that you robbed the city of Bangor by leaving us early and interrupting your education,” Nickerson said. “Now we’re going to remedy that.”

“It is my pleasure to confer upon you this high school diploma,” announced Martha Newman, Bangor School Committee chairwoman, who presented Frati with the document.

It took several years – and a law passed by the Legislature – but Frati now can call himself a high school graduate. About three years ago, the state passed a measure that has made it possible for veterans of World War II and the Korean War who left school early to serve their county to receive diplomas.

“I always thought there was probably a course I could take to get this,” Hugo Frati said with a smile.

“There is, and you just did,” Peter Frati said.

After her husband was presented with the diploma, Frati’s wife wiped away tears as each family member lined up to shake Hugo’s hand, give him a hug or both.

“This is something we feel strongly about … It’s important to value their military service,” Newman said.

Hugo Frati spent his tour during World War II on the USS Midway aircraft carrier and was honorably discharged shortly after his return to the United States in 1946.

After he was discharged from the Navy, Frati opened a jewelry store in Pittsfield with his brother Peter, which they ran for 14 years. In 1962, the brothers moved to Bangor and operated Central Loan and Gun Shop in Bangor for 35 years.

“[Hugo] is part of a generation that is disappearing, and without his family’s initiative, we never would have known,” Bangor Superintendent Robert Ervin said.

“He took a course that none of [us] have had to take, and for that we’re grateful.”