May 20 (UPI) -- A North Carolina woman found a 1938 class ring in the parking lot of a Starbucks and was able to return it to the original owner's granddaughter.
Lori Rhew said she found the Virginia Tech Class of 1938 ring in the parking lot of a Starbucks cafe in Wilmington.
"I just noticed a shiny object in the corner of the parking lot," Rhew told WECT-TV. "And I thought, 'This is a beautiful ring.'"
Rhew said she held onto the ring in the hopes of identifying its owner's family.
"I'm a sentimental person and I appreciate family heirlooms," Rhew said. "So, it just didn't feel right to get rid of it or sell it or give it away."
Using a magnifying glass and some online research, she was able to identify the ring's original owner as Virginia Tech graduate Wallace Garst, who died several years ago.
Rhew discovered Garst had a son, Wallace Garst, who died in 2024. His obituary in the Wilmington Star included a photo that showed him wearing his father's ring on his finger.
"I just could not believe it," Rhew said.
Wallace Gart's obituary showed he was survived by a daughter, Laura Stoy, who Rhew was then able to contact.
"I think he wore the ring because it made him carry about of his father around with him," Stoy said.
She said receiving the ring was like getting a piece of her father back.
"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 said.
