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Long-lost owners getting a familiar ring
Posted: July 21, 2009
enlarge photo
Quad City times
Walter Dray, 92, of Davenport, Iowa, shows off his Notre Dame ring that was returned to him after being lost for more than 40 years.
more photos
Quad City times
Walter Dray, 92, of Davenport, Iowa, shows off his Notre Dame ring that was returned to him after being lost for more than 40 years.
Close
Missing rings
Here's a list of the remaining class rings in Drew MacDonald’s collection, including the name of the school, the graduation year and the initials or name of the owner.
* West Allis HS, 1950, BJH
* Boys Tech HS, 1949, EGN
* Fair Park HS, 1932, FRZ
* Grant HS, 1955, none
* Lyons HS, 1967, BLN
* Maria HS, 1970, CAP
* BRH school, 1976, SS
* Princeton HS, 1963, PC
* Steinmetz HS, 1955, WE
* Unreadable school name, 1940, DES
* Rockford West HS, 1965, JAS
* Central HS, 1971, JB
* Mukwonago, 1979, DW
* Bellport HS, 1968, NG
* South HS, 1970, RB
* South HS, 1975, FR
* Round Lake HS, 1970, none
* SHS school, 1976, NO
* BHS school, 1958, LLL
* West Milwaukee HS, 1933, none
* Burlington HS, 1979, NLK
* SEH school, 1914, none
* J School, 1956, RN
* BHS school, 1951, none
* ZHS school, 1975, BND
* WSHS, 1941, EMW
* SJS school, 1955, none
* Lane Tech, 1937, none
* MH high school, 1953, SSM
* Rolling Meadows HS, 1982, Susan ?Andirsen
* Kelvyn Park HS, 1972, Cheryl Neuman
* CHS school, 1939, FVM
* Jones College Prep HS, 1969, Barbara Swietciak
* Monaca HS, 1938, EJM
* HIS school, 1925, none
* Austin HS, 1960, MAG
* Wausau, HS, 1922, GEB
* Unreadable school, 1949, JEB
* RK-Service HS, 1957, AL
* GHS Johnson HS, 1951, none
* Unreadable school, 1932, none
* University HS, 1954, REP
* Von Steuben HS, none, none
Walter Dray's ring from the University of Notre Dame slipped off his finger as he swam in Lake Ripley in Jefferson County. That was in the 1950s. He never forgot about it.
"Being 92 years old now, I was running out of time to get it back," said Walter, a retired engineer living in Davenport, Iowa.
The well-preserved ring has returned to his finger, thanks to Drew MacDonald.
I recently wrote a column about Drew and the dozens of class rings he's trying to reunite with their owners. Drew's late father, John MacDonald, who lived in Muskego, found the rings in the 1970s and 1980s by exploring heavily used swimming areas with an underwater metal detector.
Since that column ran, at least half a dozen people have come forward to claim their long-lost rings.
And I tracked down one owner personally on Tuesday because she went to the same high school I did, Messmer. Barbara Ann (Haut) Ceccato giggled like a schoolgirl when I called her Milwaukee home to ask if she had lost her 1951 Messmer ring with the initials BAH.
Yes, she said, she lost it while swimming in a lake near Hartford around 1954. She had paid for the gold ring with money from babysitting and working at a supermarket.
"My goodness, this is so nice. Who would have thought?" she said.
Drew, an attorney living in Menasha, has mailed rings to several people who lost them.
They include Gloria Balderas, who noticed in the original column that one of the recovered rings was from Pulaski High School class of 1975 with the initials GVP, for Gloria Valdes Perez.
"I'm like in shock reading this. I saw GVP and thought: 'That's me!' " said Gloria, who lost her ring while swimming at a lake near Muskego soon after graduation.
And there's Thomas E. Reilly Jr. from West Allis Hale's class of 1982. His ring was fished out of Lake Beulah. "The minute it came off I knew it was gone," he said. "And then trying to explain it to my parents."
And there's David Bosetti, who now has the ring he lost in Little Muskego Lake in about 1958, a year after he graduated from South Milwaukee High School. And Greg Richmond, now of Missouri, who has his Kewaunee High School ring back 31 years after he lost it.
Drew is hot on the trail of a few other possible owners. I forwarded him dozens of inquiries I received by e-mail and telephone. The sting of losing these rings was still evident in their pleas.
Cindy Erato of New Berlin had been trusted to wear her big sister's ring from Notre Dame High School class of 1974. While she was skipping stones, the ring flew into Lake Michigan, where it probably remains today.
"Trust me, I wanted to jump in to get it underwater because that would have been easier than calling her," Cindy said.
Richard of Bay View lost his 1968 Boys Tech ring via a girlfriend who didn't work out and later moved to California. He contacted me in the hope that maybe she threw it in a lake somewhere. "I'll be 60 next month and it still bothers me," he said.
The longest shot was the Brown Deer woman who was hoping Drew had her ring from Winslow (Ariz.) High School. She accidentally left it on a motel dresser in California in 1952.
Another reader wrote to tell about the wedding band her husband lost 40 years ago while hunting at Theresa Marsh. "I always figured it would turn up . . .  sometime, but after all these years it seems unlikely," she said.
At least two readers lost beloved rings down toilets but thought it was worth asking Drew to check his collection. "I don't know where the flushing goes," one said.
Drew was so touched by some stories he was hearing that he considered dusting off his father's searching equipment and heading for the lakes. But the Department of Natural Resources told him there are now laws prohibiting wholesale searching of lakes. And rings older than 50 years - considered by the state to be archaeological materials - may not be removed from their watery hiding places.
So he'll continue to seek out the owners of the rings he has. The oldest ones are from 1914 from a school designated on the ring as SEH, and one from 1922 from Wausau High School with initials GEB.
"My wife thinks I've become obsessed with it, and I kind of have," Drew said. "But it's fun to get these things back where they belong."
Did not know about the DNR part about finding rings older then 50 years old in this news report..
Posted: July 21, 2009
enlarge photo
Quad City times
Walter Dray, 92, of Davenport, Iowa, shows off his Notre Dame ring that was returned to him after being lost for more than 40 years.
more photos
Quad City times
Walter Dray, 92, of Davenport, Iowa, shows off his Notre Dame ring that was returned to him after being lost for more than 40 years.
Close
Missing rings
Here's a list of the remaining class rings in Drew MacDonald’s collection, including the name of the school, the graduation year and the initials or name of the owner.
* West Allis HS, 1950, BJH
* Boys Tech HS, 1949, EGN
* Fair Park HS, 1932, FRZ
* Grant HS, 1955, none
* Lyons HS, 1967, BLN
* Maria HS, 1970, CAP
* BRH school, 1976, SS
* Princeton HS, 1963, PC
* Steinmetz HS, 1955, WE
* Unreadable school name, 1940, DES
* Rockford West HS, 1965, JAS
* Central HS, 1971, JB
* Mukwonago, 1979, DW
* Bellport HS, 1968, NG
* South HS, 1970, RB
* South HS, 1975, FR
* Round Lake HS, 1970, none
* SHS school, 1976, NO
* BHS school, 1958, LLL
* West Milwaukee HS, 1933, none
* Burlington HS, 1979, NLK
* SEH school, 1914, none
* J School, 1956, RN
* BHS school, 1951, none
* ZHS school, 1975, BND
* WSHS, 1941, EMW
* SJS school, 1955, none
* Lane Tech, 1937, none
* MH high school, 1953, SSM
* Rolling Meadows HS, 1982, Susan ?Andirsen
* Kelvyn Park HS, 1972, Cheryl Neuman
* CHS school, 1939, FVM
* Jones College Prep HS, 1969, Barbara Swietciak
* Monaca HS, 1938, EJM
* HIS school, 1925, none
* Austin HS, 1960, MAG
* Wausau, HS, 1922, GEB
* Unreadable school, 1949, JEB
* RK-Service HS, 1957, AL
* GHS Johnson HS, 1951, none
* Unreadable school, 1932, none
* University HS, 1954, REP
* Von Steuben HS, none, none
Walter Dray's ring from the University of Notre Dame slipped off his finger as he swam in Lake Ripley in Jefferson County. That was in the 1950s. He never forgot about it.
"Being 92 years old now, I was running out of time to get it back," said Walter, a retired engineer living in Davenport, Iowa.
The well-preserved ring has returned to his finger, thanks to Drew MacDonald.
I recently wrote a column about Drew and the dozens of class rings he's trying to reunite with their owners. Drew's late father, John MacDonald, who lived in Muskego, found the rings in the 1970s and 1980s by exploring heavily used swimming areas with an underwater metal detector.
Since that column ran, at least half a dozen people have come forward to claim their long-lost rings.
And I tracked down one owner personally on Tuesday because she went to the same high school I did, Messmer. Barbara Ann (Haut) Ceccato giggled like a schoolgirl when I called her Milwaukee home to ask if she had lost her 1951 Messmer ring with the initials BAH.
Yes, she said, she lost it while swimming in a lake near Hartford around 1954. She had paid for the gold ring with money from babysitting and working at a supermarket.
"My goodness, this is so nice. Who would have thought?" she said.
Drew, an attorney living in Menasha, has mailed rings to several people who lost them.
They include Gloria Balderas, who noticed in the original column that one of the recovered rings was from Pulaski High School class of 1975 with the initials GVP, for Gloria Valdes Perez.
"I'm like in shock reading this. I saw GVP and thought: 'That's me!' " said Gloria, who lost her ring while swimming at a lake near Muskego soon after graduation.
And there's Thomas E. Reilly Jr. from West Allis Hale's class of 1982. His ring was fished out of Lake Beulah. "The minute it came off I knew it was gone," he said. "And then trying to explain it to my parents."
And there's David Bosetti, who now has the ring he lost in Little Muskego Lake in about 1958, a year after he graduated from South Milwaukee High School. And Greg Richmond, now of Missouri, who has his Kewaunee High School ring back 31 years after he lost it.
Drew is hot on the trail of a few other possible owners. I forwarded him dozens of inquiries I received by e-mail and telephone. The sting of losing these rings was still evident in their pleas.
Cindy Erato of New Berlin had been trusted to wear her big sister's ring from Notre Dame High School class of 1974. While she was skipping stones, the ring flew into Lake Michigan, where it probably remains today.
"Trust me, I wanted to jump in to get it underwater because that would have been easier than calling her," Cindy said.
Richard of Bay View lost his 1968 Boys Tech ring via a girlfriend who didn't work out and later moved to California. He contacted me in the hope that maybe she threw it in a lake somewhere. "I'll be 60 next month and it still bothers me," he said.
The longest shot was the Brown Deer woman who was hoping Drew had her ring from Winslow (Ariz.) High School. She accidentally left it on a motel dresser in California in 1952.
Another reader wrote to tell about the wedding band her husband lost 40 years ago while hunting at Theresa Marsh. "I always figured it would turn up . . .  sometime, but after all these years it seems unlikely," she said.
At least two readers lost beloved rings down toilets but thought it was worth asking Drew to check his collection. "I don't know where the flushing goes," one said.
Drew was so touched by some stories he was hearing that he considered dusting off his father's searching equipment and heading for the lakes. But the Department of Natural Resources told him there are now laws prohibiting wholesale searching of lakes. And rings older than 50 years - considered by the state to be archaeological materials - may not be removed from their watery hiding places.
So he'll continue to seek out the owners of the rings he has. The oldest ones are from 1914 from a school designated on the ring as SEH, and one from 1922 from Wausau High School with initials GEB.
"My wife thinks I've become obsessed with it, and I kind of have," Drew said. "But it's fun to get these things back where they belong."
Did not know about the DNR part about finding rings older then 50 years old in this news report..
wow now thats cool
