John Dewey (1916) asserted that deliberate and systematic educational systems provide capacity to all members of society in order to solve problems and is the foundation for participatory democratic education (Harbour, 2015). Learning is also a social process that allows people to live purposefully. The goal of this qualitative, narrative inquiry study was to explore the voices of rural community stakeholders and determine how their experiences have impacted their values of community and higher education. The primary research question in this study focused on how community stakeholders understand and value participatory democratic education in a rural community. This study explored 12 community stakeholder narratives value community and education. Participants were asked to share stories about their lives with a focus on their perceived value of education, community connectedness, and experiences with higher education institutions. Education as Growth, Education as Direction and Education as Social Function are three themes discovered in the stakeholder narratives and link Dewey's philosophy of education from the early 1900's to the current day. Findings suggest that participatory democratic education is valued by community stakeholders and should be a focus in community college education. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]