ST. LOUIS — Though he’s been gone 12 years, Mindy Berry fondly remembers her father, Gene, as quite the character.
“After he got out of the Marines, he loved jewelry,” Berry said. "He took a jewelry class. He loved finding old watches and trying to fix them.”
While going through Gene's old things, Berry came across a class ring from Washington University, a ring she would soon trace back to an alum who lost it back in 1969.
Berry first asked her mom what the ring was. She told her that Gene found it a long time ago and felt bad he was never able to find the owner.
As a graduate of Washington University herself, Berry knew the school kept detailed student records, so she contacted the archives for help.
“I sent a picture of the ring to the archives just so they knew it was legitimate,” Berry said. “I said it was class of 1969, there were initials in it, and he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity.”
The initials engraved in the ring, "RLB," led her to an email belonging to a man in Texas named Robert Lansing Brown.
Brown said he lost the ring a few months after graduating in 1969.
“If I knew where I lost it obviously, I would’ve went back and got it,” Brown said. “I don’t remember any details about that.”
“My response was, 'Boy, I bet your parents were happy they spent that money on a ring you could lose 6 months after graduation',” Berry said.
“I think this is a pattern,” said Brown. “I lost my high school ring.”
Berry and Brown have made plans to meet in St. Louis on April 4 to reunite the ring with its rightful owner.
“I can’t wait to see the look on his face once he sees it,” Berry said.
“I’m going to show it around,” Brown said.
Berry also was happy she could fulfill her father's dream of reuniting the ring with its owner after it was lost 55 years ago.
“He would be so happy,” Berry said. “He would be so happy that he found the rightful owner.”
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