High school alum reunited with 1965 class ring she never knew was lost

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    NEW CASTLE, Delaware (KYW) — A William Penn High School alum is reunited with her 1965 class ring, one of her most prized possessions. But she never knew it was lost.

Three strangers meeting for the first time. A high school ring, a good samaritan, a principal, a scrapbook and a yearbook brought them together.

“I’m just happy I could help return the ring to the owner and help Mrs. Shank get the ring to her,” William Penn high School Principal Lisa Brewington said.

Joanna Gore, a William Penn High School alum handed down her 1965 graduation ring to her granddaughter, who is now a high school junior.

“I said you can wear it but don’t lose it,” Gore said.

She did, at the Prices Corner Shopping Center, but failed to alert her grandmother. Until Gore got a call from the school’s principal that it had been found. Gore said it couldn’t be hers.

“Well, I think your granddaughter lost the ring,” Brewington said.

The teen fessed up.

“They went into all these stores asking if anybody turned one in. They searched their parking lot,” Gore said.

In that same parking lot, good samaritan Kim Shank stumbled upon the ring.

“I just saw a ring right by my car door and I looked at it and picked it up,” she said.

Shank first took to social media to find the owner. With no luck, she reached out to the school.

Principal Brewington first looked through the 1965 scrapbook and the graduation program, then the school’s yearbook.

Gore, whose maiden name is Joanna Marie Siekierda, used all three initials on her graduation ring, which were key in the investigation.

“I went to Bedford Middle School, talked to the principal there, and we went through some of the yearbooks and there was only one JMS,” Brewington said.

The three women united over a 56-year-old keepsake.

“In our day in high school, class rings were important and special. It means something to me,” Gore said.

With the ring now in her possession, I asked Gore if she’ll be handing it back to her granddaughter. Although the teen didn’t get in trouble for losing it, the answer was a resounding no. It will now be kept in a safe place.

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