Pocono News Section

'42 Class Ring Returns After 60+ Years

'42 Class Ring Returns After 60+ Years - Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at 6:07PM EST

'42 Class Ring Returns After 60+ Years Reported by: Jeff Chirico
Wednesday, Apr 15, 2009 @ 06:07pm EST
We have a fascinating story of a long lost class ring returned home. The high school ring has been on a 60 year odyssey across half the country and back.

A Pennsylvania patriot lost the ring during World War Two. But it wasn't until Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Louisiana that the ring was found. That set off a chain of events sending the ring home to Shamokin. Now, it's back with his family in Northumberland County

“He probably lost it before I got to know him,” says Lucy Surak of Shamokin. She calls the return of her late husband's Coal Township High School class ring a minor miracle. “I can't. I can't believe it"

She figures her husband Joseph lost it while stationed in the Pacific during World War Two. What she and no one can explain is how it ended up in a New Orleans woman's flood-ravaged yard 60 years later. Joseph’s son Gary tells us “right after Katrina she was out in her front lawn and found this ring. Her house was destroyed in the flood."

“The grandson of the woman who found it, contacted the webmaster of the Coal Township High School website. Although the school no longer exists, the webmaster helped track down a historian who figured out who this ring belongs to." The clue --the engraved initials. Joseph was the only “JWS” in the class of 1942.

“It's amazing that after 60 something years this thing turned up out of the clear blue sky." Amazing and emotional for Lucy “you know he passed away since October.” The found ring is a painful reminder of her lost love. And perhaps a message to Joseph’s grieving family. “It might be my dad's way of saying: ‘hey I'm looking out after you guys. Here's my class ring that you never saw."

During the war, Joseph's ship was attacked --and the entire crew was killed. Fortunately, Joseph was off the ship to be treated for an injured knee.