Newspaper solves mystery of wedding ring

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(APRIL 17, 2020) Steve Hawkins lived in Southeast Portland in the 1980s. He rented a house with a roommate. One day, he found a gold wedding ring in the rental house.

Most people would sell it, he thought. But Steve kept the ring. Why? It was somebody's ring, he said. He thought he might find its owner.

Steve read a story in The Oregonian newspaper about another lost ring. The newspaper helped find its owner. So Steve looked for the ring he found in the 1980s.

There was writing inside the ring. It said: "Lillian to Albin, Oct. 1, 1943."

The Oregonian newspaper helped with research. It found a match. In 1943, Albin Puodziunas married Lillian Opal Seeley.

The newspaper reporter learned that Lillian died in 2011. But the obituary (a newspaper article about someone who died) said her husband's name was Albin Pajunas. That man died in 2000.

The newspaper reporter found Albin and Lillian's son, Michael. He lives in North Portland now. However, he remembers his family renting the same house in Southeast Portland in the 1970s.

Michael explained that his father changed the spelling of his last name. He thought it was easier to pronounce.

Michael doesn't know what he will do with the ring now, but the mystery of its owner is solved.