Newspaper Tells Story With a Happy Ending Involving Greg Asbury '76 and His Long-Lost Ring

April 19, 2004

April 19, 2004, Greencastle, Ind. - "For nearly 24 years, Greg Asbury thought he had lost his college class ring -- specially made with his mother's original engagement diamond in it -- forever," begins a story in Illinois' Peoria Journal Star. "But last month, Greg, 50, arrived at work and checked his messages and heard the voice of his ex-wife. 'I thought there was something wrong with the kids, but instead she said DePauw (University) called and they have your ring,' he said."

Greg Asbury is a 1976 graduate of DePauw. He lost the ring in 1981 at McKinley Beach in Milwaukee. Carrie Kepple writes, "While it was missing, the jewelry traveled through four sets of hands and state lines before it was finally back home." A Milwaukee man found the ring shortly after Asbury lost it, but put it in a box and forgot about it until last month, when he "rediscovered the ring, still covered with sand. The next week, he took it to his sister in Chicago and called DePauw."

The story continues, "[DePauw] Public Safety Officer Angie Nally said she would do her best to find the owner. The ring arrived on her desk March 24. Later that day, she matched the last name of the nearly unreadable signature engraved inside the ring to Greg's ex-wife and called her. 'I thought if it was my ring, I would want someone to find me,' Nally said. The ring found its way back into Greg's hands March 26, almost 24 years after he lost it. 'It was like a chain. Each person could have pawned it and kept the money, but instead they each did the next right thing without regard for 'what's in it for me,'' Greg said. 'I lost the ring, but the ring found me.'"

Read the complete story at the newspaper's Web site by clicking here.

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