1938 CLASS RING REUNITED WITH GRANDDAUGHTER OF ORIGINAL OWNER

PEOPLE

 

Woman Finds a 1938 Class Ring in a Parking Lot and Searches for Its Owner. What Happened Next Surprised Her

By Erin Clack  Published on May 25, 2025 03:00PM EDT

 

A routine coffee run set one North Carolina woman on an emotional quest in the name of doing a good deed.

 

Lori Rhew was visiting a Starbucks in Wilmington when she noticed "a shiny object" on the ground in the corner of the parking lot. She went to take a closer look and saw that it was a 1938 Virginia Tech class ring. "I thought, ‘This is a beautiful ring,' " she recalled to local news outlet WECT.

 

Knowing that the jewelry piece likely meant a lot to the person who lost it, Rhew was determined to track down the owner.

 

“I’m a sentimental person and I appreciate family heirlooms,” she told the outlet. “So, it just didn’t feel right to get rid of it or sell it or give it away.”

 

After examining the ring with a magnifying glass and doing some online research, she identified the ring's owner as Wallace Garst, a man who had died years ago.

 

“The internet will tell you just about anything,” Rhew said of her detective efforts.

 

She also learned that Wallace had a son, named Larry Garst. "I thought, 'This has to be who had this ring,' " Rhew told WECT.

 

Her hunch was confirmed when she discovered an online obituary for Larry — amazingly featuring a photo of him wearing the class ring.

 

“I just could not believe it,” Rhew recalled of her reaction.

 

The obituary then led her to Laura Stoy, Larry's only daughter. Rhew called Stoy and told her she had something that belonged to her late dad, who had died a year ago.

 

“I was a little overwhelmed with emotion,” said Stoy, who also recently lost her mother. “I think he wore the ring because it made him carry [a piece of] his father around with him."

 

She described being reunited with her dad's ring as "serendipitous."

 

“I really feel like it was serendipitous that my dad was reaching out. He knew I had been thinking about him and he was popping in to say, ‘I’m here,’ ” Stoy told WECT.

 

She and Rhew — whose act of kindness made it all possible — have bonded over their unexpected connection and since become friends.

 

“I think Lori represents the good in the world and that there are nice people out there and the universe has a way of trying to connect people even when they’re gone, and Lori was a great connection,” Stoy told WECT.

 

For Rhew, it was simply about doing what's right. “It’s a great feeling to do the right thing,” she said.