Frank lost a wedding ring…and not just any wedding ring. This ring belonged to his father. Frank’s father passed away when he was 10 years old, and his sister was seven. Neither of them at their age could comprehend that their dad was gone and not coming back. Their mother passed away in 2021 from cancer. She gave Frank his father’s wedding ring a week before she died. Inscribed inside the 18K gold ring was “Always with you, Love Mom and Dad”.
Frank was repairing a utility box on Monday, February 17th, 2025, damaged by a vehicle sliding off the snowy road into the ditch. He took off his left glove and hastily raised his arm so the sleeve of the jacket would come down on his arm. While he did this activity with some force, the ring popped off his finger and into the snow.
He looked for the ring on Monday and Tuesday without success. He went online and Googled “somebody that finds rings in Green Bay”. Fellow RingFinder, Tom Caldie’s name appeared at the top of the page. Frank reached out to him Tuesday evening. I spoke with Tom about the search on Tuesday evening and wished him luck finding the ring. Tom called me after the search on Wednesday evening and mentioned spending about three and a half hours searching without success. Tom gave Frank my contact information to see if I would give it a try since he was leaving town for the weekend.
Frank contacted me, and I agreed to meet at 11:00 AM on Saturday at the location where the ring was lost. Frank was not one to give up, especially for this ring. He was prepared to shovel snow with two of his friends using a large deep fryer used to boil turkeys in peanut oil, then let the snow melt, allowing the ring to appear.
Tom had left his detector with Frank to use, and his friend Drew was using it while Frank went back to his house and retrieve a lighter and propane tank to use the deep fryer. I had to change settings on my machine a few times due to electromagnetic interference from the underground power lines…lots of chatter, and it was very tough to hear solid tones. I searched in areas Tom had not detected and could easily see, looking at the snow that was not trampled down. I found the ring about 10 feet away at twelve o’clock or right in front of where Frank was standing when he raised his arm in about six inches of the fluffy white stuff. Frank and his other friend Jesse were unloading more equipment from the vehicle, ready to get some exercise. When they came near the utility box in the ditch, Drew and I planted the ring near a near the deep fryer. Frank was ecstatic the ring was found. The picture above shows a smile not coming off his face for a long time…from one Marine helping another Marine…Semper Fi
