AUBURN — Saying he had to finish what he started, Henry Bear was awarded his Edward Little High School diploma Wednesday night — more than 40 years after his class graduated.

He was awarded his diploma during the high school’s Culture Night, a sharing and celebrating of cultures.

Bear, 60, of Houlton is a grandfather, a lawyer and the first-elected legislator to represent the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians in the Maine House of Representatives.

He grew up in Auburn and attended Edward Little, a member of the Class of 1974.

He liked school and did well, he said. He was a member of the jazz band and the stage band, and was an artist for the school newspaper.

But he was eager for a new start.

In the last part of his senior year, only needing one class to graduate, he dropped out of school to join the U.S. Coast Guard.

“I had less than an ideal childhood,” Bear said during an interview before his graduation ceremony. “I lived in four foster homes. At age 17, I was impatient. I didn’t realize the importance of completing my diploma.”

His father was a Maliseet Indian; his mother was French Canadian. His father and other tribal members worked locally at Morin Brick Yard, construction jobs and shoe shops, among other places.

“My father was a craftsman,” Bear said. “He made ash wood baskets and hampers, snowshoes. That transferred well to footwear. My mother worked in the Bates Mill, spinning bobbins.”

When he was young, his family lived in Auburn, then on a Maliseet reservation in northern Maine.

“There were alcohol problems on my father’s side,” Bear said. “My mother couldn’t tolerate it. My mom and dad split up.”

His mother and four children moved back to Auburn. Then she suffered from depression.

“We were taken by the state and put in foster homes,” Bear said.

He overcame his rough childhood, he said, adding that it shaped his perspectives. He’s quick to recognize the suffering of others.

“I speak on behalf of those struggling,” he said. “When I have to, I talk back to power.”

While serving in the Coast Guard, “it became clear to me that finishing high school would have mattered,” he said.

He got his GED, then a bachelor’s degree at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.

He served in the Coast Guard for 15 years, then earned a law degree from the University of New Brunswick in Canada.

During his adult life, even though he was a lawyer, not having his Edward Little diploma bothered him. He attended high school reunions, the only one without a diploma.

“I always felt like a stepchild, like I wasn’t legitimate,” he said.

Edward Little Principal Jim Miller said Bear is committed to improving the quality of life for all. He left school to serve his country.

“After that, he went on to college, a law degree, and currently serves in the Maine Legislature,” Miller said.

State law allows him to award Bear a diploma for both leaving school to serve his country and for completing one or more year of college.

Miller said Bear is “the epitome of a true citizen” and deserves thanks.

He is “a model of what we hope to instill in our children: hard work, dedication, commitment and striving to continually meet the goals we set,” Miller said.

Bear said he was humbled, that being awarded his diploma during the school’s Culture Night is appropriate, that Edward Little is a school where cultures come together.

Graduating from high school is an important rite of passage, he said. He hopes getting his diploma will inspire his tribal members and all young people “that it’s never too late to fulfill your dreams.”

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