University of Georgia alum Fred Baker III lost his class ring for the first time during a trip to Spain in 1970
Last summer, a man found the ring in his grandparents’ house and reached out to the University of Georgia’s Office of Alumni Relations, who were able to hunt Baker down
“Neither of them had to take the time to research and find me, but they did, and that’s pretty admirable,” the veteran tells PEOPLE
A University of Georgia alum finally got his class ring back after over 50 years, only to misplace it yet again.
Fred Baker III’s University of Georgia class ring began its international journey back to him in June 2024, when Jack Swift, then an intern for the University of Georgia’s Office of Alumni Relations, received an email from William Martinez, who lived in a town near Valencia, Spain.
In the message, Swift explained that he’d found a ring in his grandparents’ house and wanted to learn more about its history.
“At first, I was surprised that someone would go to the effort of emailing the university from another country, another continent,” Swift said during an interview with the University of Georgia Alumni Association. “I thought that was interesting and I wanted to look into it and learn more. I decided to devote some time, commit and see what could come from it.”
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The ring bore Baker’s name, his graduation year of 1967, and the Greek letters of his fraternity. Swift pored through an old yearbook and later called up the alum.
“My daughter was with me and we were sitting there listening to the voicemail and just couldn’t believe what he was saying,” Baker, 81, tells PEOPLE. “That somebody had actually found the ring and wanted to see about returning it after all that time.”
Fred Baker
Fred Baker wearing his UGA class ring
After graduating from UGA, Baker served in the military and traveled internationally after being stationed in Germany. And in 1970, sometime during a trip to Spain, he lost the ring.
“I owe a lot to Jack and Mr. Martinez for doing this,” Baker told UGA. “Neither of them had to take the time to research and find me, but they did, and that’s pretty admirable.”
Swift helped return the ring to Baker just before his internship wrapped.
“I knew it was something that was important to Mr. Fred, so that made it important to me,” Swift told the University of Georgia.
The 81-year-old said he has checked clothing pockets, but if he can’t find it soon, he’ll likely order a replacement.
Read the original article on People
