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OGDEN — Brent Aguirre never gave much thought to his high school class ring, until a few months ago.
"I just wrote it off, totally wrote it off," he said.
The 1966 Bonneville High School graduate only had the ring for six months before it was gone. That was 45 years ago.
Aguirre said he does not know where he lost it, and the man who returned it doesn't know where he found it.
While the class ring doesn't fit Aguirre's ring finger anymore, he's glad to have it back on his pinky.
"It's a beautiful ring," he said, spinning the ring on his little finger. "I remember mom and dad forked out pretty good money for it."
During his senior year at the Ogden High School, Aguirre's parents bought the for him, and one for his twin sister. The 1966 class ring is adorned with a chain and anchor: symbols for the Bonneville Lakers. Aguirre's name is inscribed inside in a beautiful cursive script.
But before long, before he had even graduated, it was gone, possibly at the bottom of Pineview Reservoir. "I really thought I lost my ring at Pineview," Aguirre said. "That's where I thought I lost it. In the back of my mind, that's where I thought I lost it."
His mother was disappointed. Aguirre remembers she probably scolded him for losing such a valuable keepsake. But they moved on and Aguirre graduated from high school.
He's lived a lifetime since then. Aguirre went off to fight in Vietnam and now works for the Air Force. He's moved nine times: from Germany to Korea, and Hawaii to Arizona, before coming full circle back to the Ogden home in which he lived when he graduated.
This past fall, he got an unusual Facebook message from a couple that lives in Sandy.
"They wrote they had something that might be of interest to me. They wanted to get a hold of me, and I kind of just ignored it," Aguirre said, noting that first Facebook message did not mention the ring.
It was unbelievable. I had written it off, and it was hard to believe they actually had my ring.
–Brent Aguirre
"About three weeks later they emailed me back,and said they don't know where they got it, but they had a class ring with my name in it."
The couple and Aguirre exchanged a few more emails and met just after Christmas so Aguirre could pick up the ring.
The man who found it doesn't even remember where. He was working at the University of Utah at the time, he said. His wife discovered it last year in the back of a desk drawer and looked up Aguirre on Facebook. His name is uncommon enough that she found him quickly.
"It was unbelievable," Aguirre said. "I had written it off, and it was hard to believe they actually had my ring."
He just wishes his mother was still around to see it. "It's pretty comforting, I think, especially for my mother," he said with a laugh. "But, it's nice to have it back."
Aguirre looked into having the ring re-sized to fit his ring finger but discovered that's pretty expensive. So, he says he'll just enjoy it the way it is.
