Class ring man lost during high school turns up 50 years later

PORTLAND, Ore. - A Washington man has been reunited with a class ring he lost 50 years ago.

The ring ended up in a creek in Winlock back in 1962 and incredibly, someone found it and then took the time to track him down.

Dana Williams never thought his 1963 class ring would be back on his finger. The Chehalis attorney lost it when he was a junior in high school.

The story of what happened to it is a little vague.

"Well, that's a long story," Williams said. "Certain activities occurred outside the dance hall that maybe included consumption of alcohol and fighting and the like."

The bottom line is the ring went into the water along Olequa Creek, much to his mother's dismay.

"She constantly reminded me that I was kind of a moron for throwing away three months worth of wages," Williams said.

So how was it found?

Well, J. Rouska just happened to be in that same spot decades later and she found the ring. It was tarnished and muddy and the only clue to its owner was the initials D and W.

"I just knew it had an owner somewhere," she said.

Her first thought was to head to the Winlock Library to take a look at some old yearbooks. But the library had something better - a local historian.

Roy Richards runs a mini museum at his home and in his collection he has rosters for every graduating class. There were three names with the initials D.W. in the 1963 roster and he called each one to find the ring's original owner.

"I had no idea I would ever see it again," Williams said.

"He asked me 'how much do I owe you' and I said owe me? No, it's yours," said Rouska.

"This is the sign of a person with good character and I'm very thankful to her," Williams said.

Williams also told us that around Thanksgiving his wife asked him out of the blue if he thought he would ever get his ring back. He told her no way, it wasn't going to happen.