THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9504280179
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
If it weren't for a family of complete strangers, Betsy Prince wouldn't have her cherished 1972 Suffolk High School class ring back.
Since the first week of April, when there was a newspaper story about 8-year-old Tiffany Pierce and a class ring she found, Prince and her family have been inundated with phone calls from former classmates and friends who recognized the ring as Prince's.
``It was one of the most delightful things,'' said Prince, a guidance counselor at Birdneck Elementary School. ``I think it was really great that she (Tiffany) was so considerate of someone she didn't even know.''
The story began in March, when Tiffany Pierce came home with a class ring she had found on her Trantwood Elementary school bus.
Donna Pierce, Tiffany's stepmom, had done every thing possible to find the owner of the ring which sported a light-blue stone and the initials ELH.
When the story was published, Pierce's phone started ringing and hasn't stopped since.
Pierce was able to surmise who the ring's owner was by the phone calls from former Suffolk High School students, relatives of Prince's and even her baby sitter.
Everyone called to say that the ring belonged to Prince, whose full maiden name was Elizabeth Leigh Hobbs. Prince was eventually tracked down through a friend who knew she worked at Birdneck.
Two days after the story ran, Prince and Tiffany came to face-to-face, when the Suffolk native came to collect the ring her young daughter had lost.
``I told her how important it was for her to keep doing good things for people even though you don't know them because you never know how that will come back to you,'' said Prince, a Great Neck resident. ``It (the ring) was very important to me.''
Donna Pierce is still getting calls and has a running list of people and phone numbers to pass on to Prince.
``It's almost been like a 25-year reunion,'' said Prince, chuckling. ``I've gotten to renew some friendships over the phone with people I haven't spoken to in 25 years.''
Another class ring, found months earlier by Tiffany's brother Jason, has also been identified and the Pierces are waiting for it to be picked up, too.
``Tiffany was just tickled,'' said Donna Pierce, about finding the ring's owner. ``They offered her a reward and I told her, `This is what happens when you're honest.' '' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
Tiffany Pierce, 8, holds the Suffolk High class ring she found on a
school bus. Two days after the story ran in the April 7 Beacon,
Betsy Prince came to collect her ring.
by CNB