Utah sisters thank stranger who found late father’s long-lost good luck charm

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    OGDEN, UT (KSTU) — Two Utah sisters are thanking a complete stranger after the man’s chance discovery brought those sisters closer to their late father, more than a decade after their father’s death.

In Sherri Lambert Hansen’s living room, photos of her father sat sprawled across the table Wednesday evening.

She picked up a photo that showed Perry Lambert wearing reindeer antlers and a red nose.

“He loved to have fun,” Sherri said, with a laugh.

Her sister Susan Lambert Mullikin sat next to her on the couch, looking through photos.

“We really look, and kind of reminisce a little,” Sue said.

They own tokens and little mementos passed down from their father.

“It’s the small things that matter,” Sherri said.

Small things, like a Weber State jersey Perry wore the night he broke his collar bone on the football field.

“Yeah, we’ve got to get that framed,” Sherri said, holding up the jersey with a smile. “But it tells a story.”

Perry’s good luck coins tell a story, too. The sisters said their dad liked to carry a good luck charm with him.

“He always believed in good luck,” Sherri said.

One good luck coin tells quite a unique tale, that the sisters didn’t even know about until last week.

It’s a round, fairly shiny aluminum coin with a star cutout in the middle, a four-leaf clover on one side, and an American flag on the other side.

“My first reaction was just, ‘Wow,’” Sue said. “Where did this come from?”

The coin spent more than 60 years buried in the ground, and waiting for a little luck.

Last week, metal detector hobbyist Ryan Houston made the silvery find in an empty field on 24th Street in Ogden.

“I initially thought it was a silver half dollar,” Ryan said. “So, I was a little bit disappointed that it was just a good luck token.”

While it may have been a little disappointing at first, Ryan noticed the coin had a name and address imprinted on it.

The address was just two and a half blocks away from the empty field.

With more luck—this time on social media—Ryan tracked down Perry’s two daughters. He met up with Sue and her granddaughter the next day to give them the coin.

“This is just… it’s amazing to me Ryan, number one, took the time to reach out to us,” Sue said.

“It’s just nice to have that connection to the past,” Ryan said. “That someone could find something, and be reminded of a loved one.”

The sisters said Perry lived in the house listed on the good luck charm around 1945, and they guessed he carried it around as a teenager as young as 15 years old.

He likely lost it, they estimate, 63 to 73 years ago.

“How it survived that many years, it’s in really good shape– is amazing,” Sue said, moving the coin between her fingers.

Now, years after his passing– and thanks to Ryan– Sherri and Sue have a new story to reminisce about as they look at their father’s photos and mementos.

“This is really awesome,” Sherri said, holding the coin.

A special token, that will always remind them of dad.

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