Lost Charlotte Class Ring Turns Into A Story About Legacy
When Susan Flake, a volunteer at the Cathedral Baptist Church in Wadesboro, North Carolina, was collecting clothing from a consignment store for a fundraiser to help church youth attend camp, she noticed something had fallen from a pocket of one of the items. It was a green and gold UNC Charlotte class ring.
The 1991 Jostens ring included a replaced crown and the inscribed initials “P.R.R.” Flake immediately thought about her daughter, who attended UNC Charlotte’s School of Nursing. She also recalled losing several pieces of jewelry – including her own class ring and a ring belonging to her grandmother – due to theft years earlier. Determined to find the ring’s owner, Flake started creating an ad to place in a Monroe newspaper. But first, she took a chance by calling the UNC Charlotte Harris Alumni Center, where she spoke directly to the center’s coordinator, Lisa Stewart ’81.