Uncategorized Category | Page 238 of 585 | The Ring Finders

2020 was a rough year, but Judith and Dewey Sherman, married for over half a century, took comfort in knowing that they had each other.
That year, Dewey had lost his wedding ring while outside doing yard work near a lake. The ring that he had worn for over 60 years was gone. Dewey searched and searched, but his ring was nowhere to be found.

It could have been anywhere—under the murky depths of the nearby lake, lying between a crevice of rocks on the shore, buried in the grass or soil. Perhaps a crow or blackbird carried the ring far away. Crushed, Dewey resigned that he would likely never find his ring again.

Two years passed, and Judith had become ill. In 2022, she was receiving care at home from a St. Croix Hospice team including Chaplain Paul Humphreys. In addition to being a hospice chaplain, Paul also happens to be an expert metal detectorist, and he’s been recovering long-lost valuables for more than 40 years all across the globe.

One morning, during a spiritual care visit with Judith and Dewey, Paul learned about Dewey’s lost ring and knew he wanted to help.

With the couple’s permission, Paul returned to their home later that same day, offered up a silent prayer and set to work searching under the water with his SCUBA-rated equipment. A myriad of signals from the lake’s murky bottom bore testimony to decades of human presence—rusty iron, nuts, bolts, tin, nails, beer cans and a century-old spoon. But, after an hour of searching in the water, Dewey’s wedding ring failed to surface.

Moving onto the shore, an overwhelming array of metallic signals chirped their presence in Paul’s headphones. Ferreting a gold ring out from all the noise was challenging, even for someone with his knowledge and expertise.

After nearly three hours of searching, a faint signal on Paul’s detector begged investigation. Cutting a plug of grass about six inches deep, Paul turned the sod over and exposed the soil and roots beneath. The metal detector’s signal was now clear and crisp. Breaking open the clump, Dewey’s wedding ring suddenly flashed golden in the evening sun.

Returning to the house, Chaplain Paul discreetly slipped the ring to Judith. “I want you to be the one to give it to him,” he told her.
When Dewey appeared, Judith asked him to come and sit beside her. With her face radiating love and grace, she held out her hand to Dewey and opened it to reveal the ring she had given him 62 years before. The emotions of that moment, Paul said, “…were beyond words!”

62 years ago, that same ring had been exchanged along with their vows. Dewey and Judith had promised to love and cherish each other all their lives, “for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health.” Through Judith’s declining health, Dewey remained by her side until she passed away peacefully in September 2022.

Like Dewey’s ring, quality time with our loved ones is precious. Chaplain Paul and the caregivers at St. Croix Hospice dedicate themselves to helping patients and their loved ones make the most out of each and every moment.

This story is shared in loving memory of Judith Sherman.

For media inquiries or more information on St. Croix Hospice, contact Kelly Buethe at kbuethe@stcroixhospice.com or 612-409-0910.

Sunday, September 4, 2022, found Minneapolis couple and their family, Jason & Kate Helquist, enjoying Lake Butte des Morts in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It was a perfect weekend away with friends.

Anchored off shore in a boat, the family had taken to swimming in the lake shallows. But delight turned to disappointment when Jason’s platinum wedding ring went missing. He was performing a double-arm backstroke, churning up the water in a splashy escape from his teen-aged daughter’s playful attack. The force pulled the otherwise snug-fitting ring from his finger.

Kate contacted me the next day when she discovered The Ring Finder’s directory of metal-detecting specialists. Who knew!

Technology can be so helpful. Kate sent me a marked-up Google satellite image of the location. Calculating the search area, I determined it covered nearly the size of ten volleyball courts. On land, no problem. In water, definitely more challenging! I also learned the water was about 3 ½ to 4 feet deep, making a wading search feasible. However, finding a postage-stamp-sized object in a vast lake would require patience and an extra-careful grid search. There was little room for error.

We arranged to meet early, Wednesday, September 14. Kate left her home in Minneapolis in the wee small hours of the morning to make the 3 ½ hour drive to Oshkosh. I drove 1 ½ hours from my home. Upon arrival, Kate expressed how she was at peace about the outcome either way, but I could sense deep down she was hoping for a miracle. Clearly, it was more than just a ring.

A kind land owner granted access to the area from his lakefront home. Once in the water, I set out four marker buoys and began a systematic search using the latest water-detecting equipment from XP Deus. The usual targets were retrieved, pull tabs, bottle caps, fishing lures, coins, boat parts, shotgun brass from long-ago duck hunters. Lake bottoms tell so many stories. However, Jason’s ring eluded discovery.

Kate and a friend waited expectantly on shore. After three-plus meticulous hours, I consulted with Kate again and we agreed to expand the search area. It was not long after, Jason’s wedding ring lay glistening in my scoop!

Gear in tow, I waded back to the boat dock where Kate met me. Retrieving the ring from my pouch, I reached up from the water and placed it into her trembling hand. Tears flowed—the most-happy kind! A FaceTime call to Jason in Minneapolis revealed a smile that, like Kate’s, confirmed the deep love represented by a well-worn, lost-but-now-found wedding ring!

If you or someone you know has lost a ring, don’t give up hope. Let a metal-detecting specialist at TheRingFinders.com put a smile on your face!

Vancouver Ring Finder Chris Turner- Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost your ring?… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP  Anytime   778-838-3463

I received a text message late last night and when I woke up in the morning I saw that somebody was in need of my service. I sent back a text message to call anytime and at 7:20 AM the young man called and we discussed the search and location, I headed out immediately as it was a nice day and I knew the crowds would be hitting the beach and we wanted to get there before them.

When I arrived the young man showed me the area where he believed the ring was lost, it was a big area, the story goes that he was playing catch with his son and didn’t realize his ring was missing until he got home. He raced back to the beach and searched until dark, when he got home he googled how to find a lost ring and found me online and sent me a text message late night.

I woke up and saw his text message I replied to call me as soon as possible and it’s 7:20 AM I got the call, we discussed the location and set up a time to meet at 8 AM. When I arrive to the Beach he show me the approximate area where he believed he lost his ring however he wasn’t 100% sure because he was wearing a baseball glove, it had to come off his finger when he removed his hand from the glove.

After over one and a half hours of grid searching I saw his beautiful white gold ring in my scoop! I will never get tired of seeing how this affects peoples lives and how happy you can make somebody feel. Unfortunately this young man did not want to be on the Internet so no photos or video for this search it happens and that’s OK the most important thing was to find that ring!

Vancouver Ring Finder Chris Turner- Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost your ring?… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP  Anytime   778-838-3463 I have the best job in the world, I love helping people more than anything I’ve ever done in my lifetime. I get to make people smile, I get to hear their stories of what their ring/lost items mean to them and how happy it makes them feel when I find it.

I received a call from Sam E. regarding his wife, Ashley, who lost her ring while relaxing in about 3 feet of water with some friends. While kneeling in the water swishing her hands through the sand she felt her ring come off. Ashley and her friends immediately tried to sift through the sand, seashells and water to no avail. Ashley had the wherewithal to take a picture of a landmark as to where they were kneeling in the water. I went out that afternoon to look for the ring as it was a public beach an other detectors frequented that area. After a couple hours searching for the ring it appeared in my scoop with shells and sand.

Sam and Ashley live in Brighton, Michigan about 150 miles away so I had to mail the ring. Although I have never met them in person, I know they were very grateful to get her ring back on her finger.

Maybe we will meet someday.