It was quite a discovery. While clearing a sewer clog, several Alabama wastewater workers found something buried in the debris: an old class ring. Little did they know the piece of jewelry held a heartwarming story.
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The Ring Launched a Search
UPI reports that the crew brought the ring to Junior Riner, an operator at the Sheffield Wastewater Plant in Sheffield, Alabama, which is part of the Muscle Shoals area.
The ring was from the Burrell-Slater High School Class of 1965, and it bore the initials OJM. Riner learned that the Black school in Florence, Alabama, closed in 1969 as schools became integrated. He also found a Facebook alumni group and posted about the ring.
Several months went by with no updates. Then Riner's son-in-law helped search and found a photo of some Burrell-Slater graduates online. One of them was named Oscar James Meredith.
The Men Tracked Down the Owner of the Class Ring
Riner's son-in-law's father serves on the city council. He helped the wastewater workers track down Meredith's daughter, April Meredith Moore. She then asked her 79-year-old father if he had ever lost his class ring.
Meredith told his daughter the story behind the piece of jewelry. He had given it to his high school sweetheart, Anna, who had died several years ago. She would later become his wife and Moore's mother. However, she had lost the band several years before they were married.
Riner reunited Meredith with his ring, and it surprisingly still fit on his finger. It will now be put in a display case in Meredith's home.
But the story did not end there. Riner also discovered that the sewer where his crew found the ring was across the street from the home where Anna grew up. It had likely been dropped down the sink at some point.
"That was sentimental because the school meant a lot and it's closed now, of course," said Meredith. "And it brought all those memories of the high school years."
