'Just Wonderful People': Woman In Arizona Helps Dallas Native Reunite With His Class Ring After 57 Years

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A combination of kindness and detective work helped reunite a Dallas native with a long-lost keepsake.

Tom Chamblee misplaced his high school ring nearly six decades ago, not long after his 1964 graduation from Highland Park High School. He recalled losing the ring during a trip to Galveston.

"I sort of remember putting my ring in my shoe," he said. "I think I probably forgot the ring was in the shoe, and when I went to put the shoe back on, it dumped out in the sand."

For 57 years, he wondered on occasion where it was. "Never obviously thought I would ever see it again," he said.

It turned out the ring made its way from Texas to Sun City, Arizona, where it sat unclaimed for more than 50 years - until a woman found it in her mother's home and set out to find its owner.

She traced the ring to Highland Park High School from its mascot, and then reached out to alumni board member Ann Marron-Clark.

"I got so excited, like, 'We've got to find this guy. We've got to find this guy,'" Marron-Clark said. She pulled the 1964 yearbook with her only clue: 3 initials. "I'm just thinking, 'Please be a senior with the intials TGC.'"

There was only one.

"I was like, Wow!" said Chamblee, laughing.

Within weeks, the ring, having traveled thousands of miles over nearly six decades, was back on the finger of its rightful owner, who now lives in Florida. But Chamblee credited more than just successful sleuthing for the happy reunion.

"These people were just wonderful people," he said. "If everybody was like these people, it'd be a better world. I can tell you that."