Diana Rockey, Leesburg, left; Mike Usina of St. Augustine, Fla., and Lamar Chupp of Bristol in the background, meet to return Usina’s 1972 class ring. Photo provided by Diana Rockey.

By Blair Baumgartner
InkFreeNews

LEESBURG — Talk about a one-in-a-million story.

Over the 4th of July weekend Diana Rockey was watching the flotilla boat parade from her home on Lake Tippecanoe. She was standing out on her pier with her family when someone threw a T-shirt to them from one of the boats.

They were trying to decide who would fetch the T-shirt and she was the only person wearing a bathing suit, so she was chosen. She just happened to be wearing the gold ring her mother had given her nine days prior. She jumped in to fetch the T-shirt and to her dread, when she arose from the water, noticed the ring was gone.

“I had only had it for nine days. I was literally sick to my stomach. My parents divorced over 40 years ago and I had been asking my mom for that gold wedding band for the past 40 years. I recently went to visit her in Missouri and she finally decided I could have it. I literally felt like this was the universe telling me that I should not have this ring,” she said.

“I was ready to give up trying to find it, but my daughter was absolutely determined to find it. She started snorkeling near where I lost my ring, but it was nowhere to be found. She decided to call a dive shop in Elkhart and finally came in contact with Lamar Chupp, a diver from Bristol,” said Rockey.

After 1 1/2 hours Chupp found the ring.

“It was a unique situation,” he said. “It was a little weedy. It was almost too good to be true. I don’t expect it to happen again in my lifetime. I’m just glad to be a part of it and see the joy on their faces. That’s really what makes it all worth it. Bringing people joy in that way is so much greater than money.”

When he arose from the water, he held up two rings and asked Rockey if she knew anyone who had lost a class ring.

Not readily knowing anyone who lost their ring, she saw it was a Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger class of 1972 class ring and decided to post the question on the “Friends of Lake Tippecanoe” Facebook page.

Searching the high school’s website, she came across a Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger class of 1972 50-year reunion, which was approaching soon. She contacted the reunion organizer, Shibb Neddeff, and asked if he knew anyone with the initials “MDU.”

As it turned out, Neddeff knew exactly whose initials were on the ring. He had been good friends with Mike Usina of St. Augustine, Fla., and had kept in touch over the years.

At the same time, another gentleman from Florida who specializes in finding missing class rings and other mementos contacted Rockey via Facebook. He found Usina’s Facebook page and let Rockey know his identity. She then proceeded to reach out to Usina.

They met in Fort Wayne, and after 50 years Usina finally recovered his ring.

“I received a Facebook message from a total stranger and didn’t think anything of it. I decided to check it after a couple of days and was asked if I lost my high school class ring, and replied, ‘Actually, yes I did,'” said Usina.

“My reaction was a little like winning the lotto — I wrote off the ring years ago and chalked it up to a life lesson about not wearing any jewelry while I waterski. I vividly remember waterskiing on that day over 50 years ago and coming back to the boat without my ring,” he said.

“The ring was in amazing condition, which is a credit to nature and the pureness of the water in Lake Tippecanoe. Finding the ring is significant, but making these new friendships is a huge bonus. Our class was also unified by the story when I showed them the ring at our reunion,” he said.

“The Mega Millions just hit $1 billion. Guess who’s getting a ticket to build on this momentum? This was like winning the lottery.”