The woman finds 1938 class ring in parking lot, searching for owners

A routine coffee run put a North Carolina woman on an emotional mission in the name to do a good deed.

Lori Rhew visited a Starbucks in Wilmington when she noticed “a shiny object” on the ground in the corner of the parking lot. She went to look closer and saw that it was a 1938 Virginia Tech Class Ring. “I thought, ‘This is a beautiful ring,'” she reminded herself to the local news outlet Fold.

By knowing that the jewelry piece meant a lot to the person who lost it, Rhew was determined to track the owner.

“I’m a sentimental person and I appreciate the family’s legacy,” she told the outlet. “So it just didn’t feel right to get rid of it or sell it or give it away.”

After examining the ring with a magnifying glass and doing some online research, she identified the ring’s owner as Wallace Garst, a man who had died years ago.

“The Internet will tell you almost anything,” Rhew said about its detective efforts.

She was also told that Wallace had a son, named Larry Garst. “I thought,” this must be who had this ring, “Rhew told Wect.

Her sigh was confirmed when she discovered an online death case for Larry – incredible with a photo of him carrying the class ring.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” Rhew reminded his reaction.

The death then led her to Laura Stoy, Larry’s only daughter. Rhew called Stoy and told her that she had something that belonged to her late father, who had died a year ago.

“I was a little overwhelmed by emotions,” said Stoy, who also recently lost her mother. “I think he wore the ring because it made him carry (a bit) his father with him.”

She described that she was reunited with her father’s ring as “serendipitous.”

“I really feel that it was serendipitous that my dad handed out. He knew I had thought of him and he appeared to say,” I’m here, “Stoy told WECT.

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She and Rhew – whose kindness made everything possible – have bound over their unexpected connection and then become friends.

“I think Lori represents the good in the world and that there are nice people out there and the universe has a way to try to connect people even when they are gone, and Lori was a fantastic connection,” Stoy told WECT.

For Rhew, it was simply about doing what is right. “It’s a great feeling to do the right thing,” she said.