Comment
Print
There are stories of lost and found high school class rings, but one that happened in December is a bit surreal. Found under six inches of soil in Greensboro on Dec. 5 the ring's owner actually lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, but lived in Greensboro in 1984 for about a year. A metal detector, Kelley Jones discovered the ring while digging in a residential area in Greensboro.
Meanwhile in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Keith Stout, a 1973 graduate of East Rutherford High School (ERHS) hadn't thought of his ring in decades. He and his wife Mary had no clue where or when the ring was lost. Mary said she discovered it was missing one day when looking in her jewelry box, the last place she remembered seeing the ring. Keith, Mary and their 5-year-old daughter Rebekah, were living in Greensboro. Mary knew the lost ring could be in a lot of places.
Prior to living in Greensboro, Keith lived in Forest City and in Jefferson City, Tennessee while in college. Mary, a 1972 graduate of East Rutherford, also lived in Forest City and Boone after high school where she attended Appalachian State University (ASU).
Mary and Keith were high school sweethearts and when Mary went off to ASU, Keith gave her his class ring.
After Mary graduated from ASU, the couple married and lived in Forest City, Hickory and in North Wilkesboro before moving to Greensboro.
Mary and Keith were busy in their Myrtle Beach home getting ready for Christmas when they received a telephone call from Mary's sister, Martha Hopper of Bostic in mid-December. She saw a post on the ERHS Alumni Facebook page about a 1973 ERHS class ring with the initials RS that had been found.
Martha said she had no idea Keith had lost his ring, but immediately contacted Mary who subsequently joined the alumni page. She confirmed Keith had lost his ring and Mary began corresponding with ERHS graduate Phyllis Warlick who had been in contact with the ring finder, Kelley, of Greensboro.
Kelley found the ring on Dec. 5 while on a dig in a private yard and immediately knew he wanted to find the ring's owner. He began a search but after googling ERHS, he didn't make any progress in finding the ring's owner.
"Some things popped up on google, but everyone wanted money to do the research, so I came to a dead end," Kelley said.
He decided to try to get a list of the 1973 ERHS male graduates to find the student with RS initials.
After Martha saw the post and knew her brother-in-law's initials were RKS, she posted on Facebook asking if the ring included all three initials.
See didn't get an immediate response.
In no time, Phyllis Warlick, who had been corresponding with Kelley on Facebook, heard about the three initials - RKS -- and Kelley contacted Keith via the school's Facebook alumni page.
Kelley then called Keith and asked him three or four pertinent questions. What was the ring's design? What were the initials? How was the Cavalier (mascot) facing on the ring? Was it a smooth or cut stone? And finally, Kelley asked Keith if he had ever lived in Greensboro.
When Keith replied he had lived in Greensboro and gave Kelley the address of their home in 1984, Kelley began laughing. "Man, I have your ring," Kelley said he told Keith.
Kelley dug the ring up in a yard near Keith and Mary's Haywood Avenue residence more than 36 years ago.
The ring was found about six inches in the soil.
"The grass had grown over it and cut over and over for years," Kelley said. The dirt was caked in the ring.
Keith and Kelley made plans to meet halfway between Myrtle Beach and Greensboro on Dec. 22 to exchange the ring. But when Kelley's brother Dennis decided to travel to Myrtle Beach for Christmas, he would deliver the ring.
"There are a lot of bad things going on so this was a good Christmas find," Kelley said.
Kelley's brother, Dennis and his wife, met Keith and Mary in a parking lot in North Myrtle Beach for the ring exchange. They showed up with the ring wearing their masks and took them off for photographs.
Seventeen days after the discovery, Keith had the ring back on his finger.
"It was like 'wow." It was pretty amazing, although I hadn't thought about the ring in many years," Keith said.
"This came as a surprise... I didn't even know where I lost it," he said.
Mary said she remembers keeping it in her jewelry box on her dresser.
"And then one day, I noticed it was missing and asked Keith about it. He didn't know where it was, either," Mary said.
Keith purchased the class ring in about 1972 from Stallings Jewelry in Forest City. The majority of students bought rings through the high school, but Keith's parents, Robert and Blanche Stout who owned a restaurant in Sandy Mush, knew the Stallings family so Keith bought his ring from the family friends.
"I probably got a deal or something," he said.
Keith said he would not wear the ring every day, but will wear it. Eventually the couple's daughter, Rebekah, will get the ring.
"I guess it is not a lot of monetary value, but it has brought up a lot of memories about high school," Keith said.
'It freaked me out, that it was not damaged. There were a couple tiny chips around the edge, but they are barely visible," Keith said.
Kelley said he never accepts a reward for his finds.
"I am the type of person who runs into a fire, not away from it. If that was my ring I would have wanted it back," Kelley said.
Kelley receives permission to search a particular piece of property and anything he finds, he first offers it to the property owner.
It is rare the landowner wants to keep a find, but there has been a time or two.
Kelley says he's never found anything of great value. Probably the greatest monetary value was a gold coin estimated to be worth $1800.
He once found a set of dog tags belonging to a World War II veteran. The soldier died in the war and Kelley couldn't find a relative to return the dog tags.
Those types of items are among his most treasured items.
"I've been doing this since I was a child," Kelley said.
He grew up in Guam where his father was stationed while in the military.
"My friends and I would go into the foxholes near the Air Force Base and find a lot of things," he said.
That hobby remained with Kelley.
When not doing his metal detecting, Kelley drives a truck and also works for Target. He has two sons and two stepsons. One of his sons was with him when he uncovered the ring.
"I called him over when I found the ring. I didn't have my glasses so he read it to me," Kelley said.
While Keith is enjoying his ring at home in Myrtle Beach, he said it sure would be nice if someone could dig up his ERHS letter jacket his daughter lost when she was a middle school student in Myrtle Beach.
