BLUEFIELD – During this holiday season, a former Mercer County teacher is still hoping an heirloom ring lost 35 years ago can return to her family.
Ann R. Farley, who taught at Bluewell Elementary School from 1984 to 85 and Bluefield High School from 1985 to 1986, now lives in New Bethlehem, Penn. She recently reached out to the Bluefield Daily Telegraph in hopes of finding an heirloom that was left behind when her family left Bluefield years ago.
“On this special thank-you holiday, I am grateful for the hope,” she said. “Because it is hope that has kept a spark alive after the last 35 years. I may still have a chance to regain a precious heirloom that was lost in Bluefield. Of course it helped to be an eternal optimist. “
The ring was first bought by her father Charles Jack Rodgers for her future mother Edna Mae Stillmun.
“That story began in 1948 when my father bought his beautiful bride a gold wedding ring,” Farley recalls. “According to tradition, the inside was engraved with CJR according to EMS, 6-12-48. My mother was a devoted wife and lovingly raised eight children between the 1950s and 1970s. At one point, an accident in which her left hand was smashed into a door resulted in the wedding ring being cut off and replaced with a modern version that she wore until her 87th birthday and the rest of her 60-year marriage. “
Farley’s daughter Lauren was born in July 1980.
“After Lauren’s first birthday, mom offered me her damaged ring because I had expressed my interest in having it repaired and refined by a local goldsmith,” she recalls. “This resulted in a simple design that allowed a small ruby, Lauren’s birthstone, to be placed on the ribbon while keeping the wedding engraving. After completing the project, I was thrilled with the multigenerational ring I would give to my daughter if I knew she would appreciate it. “
Farley later decided to show her little girl the ring that would one day be hers.
“Then came one of the most regrettable and worst decisions I have made in my adult life: I showed it to my 4 year old and said that one day she would wear it,” she said.
Young Lauren decided to take a closer look.
“I don’t know when she took it out of my jewelry box, maybe to show it to a little friend, maybe at the Nazarene Church where she went to daycare, or the following year as a kindergarten student at Memorial Elementary. but I think it was the former, “said Farley. “It’s even possible that she played with it in our Parkway Avenue house and lost it. We stopped once and spoke to the current owners after dropping off I-77 on our way south. “
Today Farley still hopes the ring will be found so his granddaughter can have it.
ruby
“Over the years I have allowed myself to dwell on regrets at the loss, which always left my stomach feeling sour,” she said. “In 2015, our first granddaughter was born to Lauren and Aaron, a precious little girl they named Ruby. Now we have a real gem with our 6-year-old granddaughter. But of course I think about the ring a lot now and I still hope someone in Bluefield will know about it. It would mean the world to me to give it to little Ruby who was supposed to be wearing it. “
“While the ring has far greater sentimental value, I would like to pay generously to return it to its rightful owner,” she added.
Farley said she can be contacted over the Internet at [email protected]. She doesn’t have a Facebook page.
– Contact Greg Jordan at [email protected]
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