From Germany to Georgia: 1988 class ring finds way back to rightful owner

Have you ever lost something really important to you and then found it in the place you least expected?

Well, a 1988 class ring found in Brown Hall last month takes that situation to a whole new level.

Nearly a month ago, Emily Russel, a custodial worker in Brown Hall, found a 1988 class ring sitting on a windowsill. The ring was from Irwin County High School, located in southern Georgia.

Russell then brought the Ring to Maria Buchanan, the woman over Brown Hall’s Lost and Found. Buchanan then turned it in to Lisa Odum, the Executive Aide for the Culp Center. Odum, who believed it was important that the owner get such a sentimental piece returned to them, began searching for the owner.

The name inscribed on the ring was William Zorn. After searching for several hours, Odum finally found a county commissioner in Ocilla, Georgia with the same name as the ring.

When she called the office to get in contact with him, the staff was confused — Zorn had graduated high school many years prior to 1988. Once Zorn got back in contact with Odum, she mailed the ring to Georgia.

After a few days, Zorn started to think that there had been a mistake. The ring didn’t fit him, and he didn’t really recognize it, even though his name was inscribed on the band. When Zorn finally realized who the ring really belonged to, he believed that there was a story to share.

Zorn called Odum back, but when she answered, she realized that the voice sounded different than before. The ring, as it turns out, belonged to Zorn’s son, who currently lives in South Carolina.

The last time that Zorn Jr. had seen the class ring was when he was stationed at Rhein Main Air Base in Germany in 1990. While Zorn Jr. was in the barracks doing dishes, he decided to remove his ring to protect it from the water.

He placed it on a window sill. While doing dishes, two men started a conversation with him, and when he turned around a few minutes later, the ring had been stolen.

Little did he know that 26 years later his ring would be found, not only on a college campus that he had never been before, but on a window sill.

“I thought I would never see it again, but after 26 years it’s on my finger,” said Zorn Jr. in an email to Odum. “If my dad had a different name or didn’t live where I went to school the ring may have never found its way back to me.”