Man lost track of class ring. Former O’Fallon business owner reunites him with it

A mission Rosemary Furfaro began nearly 20 years ago has been accomplished — and has a happy ending.

Furfaro, former owner of Fantasy Tans in O’Fallon, finally reconnected a lost class ring with its owner, Rick Jennings, who currently lives in the Chicago suburbs, not far from his alma mater of East Aurora High School.

The mystery was solved through social media, after several searches over the years had been unsuccessful in finding Jennings. All she had was the name of the high school on the ring and inside, the owner’s name was engraved.

“I found the guy! He couldn’t believe it and was completely ecstatic over it,” she said.

Jennings, a graduate of the Class of 1993, had played sports in high school. He went on to Bradley University and enlisted as a reservist.

“She made my day,” he said.

Jennings said in college, he had given his ring to a girlfriend, but after they broke up, he lost touch with her and his ring. He said her father was in the U.S. Air Force, and assumed they were living near Scott Air Force Base when she was a customer at the tanning salon.

Furfaro, who looks back fondly on her 15 years as a business owner in O’Fallon, said she operated Fantasy Tans in a strip shopping center on U.S. 50, from 1991-2006, when fire damage destroyed her business.

On July 23, 2006, a fire broke out next door at Casa Azteca, a Mexican restaurant that has since re-opened.

Furfaro said the soot and smoke damage from the fire were too much for her to recover from, and she had lost equipment and inventory.

But she had kept the items left at the business, in hopes of reuniting people with whatever was left on the shelf of their tanning beds’ booths.

The jewelry found in the tanning rooms had been safely put away in a lockbox.

“It was always returned back to that customer. And trust me, there’s been thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry left over the years,” she said. “We’d have wedding rings and engagement rings, diamonds and gold jewelry.”

At some point, before the salon went down, a man’s class ring was found that had been left behind by a female customer.

“I kept the ring locked up waiting for this person to claim it. No one ever did,” she said.

“Then, the salon went down, and I’ve held on to that ring for many years since. Over many years, I have tried searching with no luck at all. I didn’t want to turn it into the school because I wanted to make sure he received it,” she said.

‘She was wonderful’

And now, he has. After she verified Jennings was the owner, she mailed it, he sent her the postage cost, and the package arrived swiftly. He declined to name the woman who had his ring, citing her privacy.

Jennings, who admits to infrequent posts on his Facebook page, said he the inquiry stunned him.

“I had forgotten about it. Once in a while, like when moving, I had thought about the ring and wondered where it was. I was really surprised. She sent me a very nice message on Facebook,” he said.

“She was wonderful. She tried getting information from me. She asked questions to make sure it was actually mine. She asked about its color. You never know what people are trying to get from you online,” he said.

Although, there was one snag when trying it on about 29 years after graduation.

“It doesn’t fit,” he said, laughing.

‘I could not believe it’

But the memento’s return was welcome.

“It does mean something to me. It means high school memories,” he said.

Furfaro said she was relieved by the outcome.

“I could not believe it. I could tell it was him after sending messages back and forth,” she said.

After her Jan. 21 post on her Facebook page explaining what had transpired, Furfaro said received comments from many customers and former employees.

“So many customers and my girls — employees who I am still really close with — reached out. We really were like a family. I miss so many people from there,” she said.

Hometown Heroes, honoring military

Still active in the community, Furfaro has spearheaded the Hometown Heroes project in O’Fallon since 2018, which places banners honoring men and women who have served or are serving the country, on light poles downtown. She works with the city on arrangements and the American Legion post, which collects the cost.

Each banner honors an individual service member, including retired and honorably discharged veterans, active-duty service members, and memorials to service members who are no longer alive.

“I’m very passionate about it,” Furfaro said.

Her father and brother served in the military. Currently, there are 73 banners in town.

As for the lost and found case, she said, “It was crazy. I wasn’t going to give up. Now onto a new mystery to solve. It really did brighten my day.”