Class ring lost decades ago found in yard of owner's former home

Oct. 1 (UPI) -- A man who lost his class ring from a college in New York state was reunited with the ring when it was found decades later in the yard of a house where he used to live.

Jim McNicholas, 74, said his Canisius College class ring was a gift in the late 1960s, and in it was with the couple in the 1970s when they moved from Buffalo to El Paso, Texas, where he was stationed in the Army.

McNicholas said he lost the ring at some point before moving back to Buffalo to accept a position at Canisius College. His wife, Dorothy, bought him a replacement ring in 1975.

"I don't know how I lost it, it's just one day I was looking for it and I couldn't find it," he told WIVB-TV. "I looked all over. I thought I lost it on a golf course, I didn't put it in the bag correctly, or something. But as it turns out, I lost it doing some yard work when we were living in El Paso."

Vera Dianna Nunez, who lived with her family at McNicholas' former home in El Paso, said the ring was found by gardeners.

"The gardeners found the ring and they handed it over to my parents and so my parents brushed it off and cleaned it off," Nunez said.

Nunez said she recently decided to do some research and was able to identify McNicholas as the ring's owner. She called him to confirm he was the former wearer of the ring and returned it to him via mail.

"I said that's unbelievable, that someone would find this thing, that long ago, keep it, and eventually return it," McNicholas said.