Top Honors Bestowed at Commencement 2013 - Cascia Hall ...

The Lost Ring
Dan Shyne from Bozeman, Montana
e-mailed Cascia in October, 2012 saying
he had found a 1949 class ring from
Cascia Hall with the initials EEB. Jane
Easley, Assistant Director of Alumni,
searched the 1949 yearbook and found
one student with those initials, Edward
E. Barry. After a few google searches,
she came across Mr. Barry’s obituary.
He had passed away in December
2011, and his wife predeceased him.
With a little more research, Easley
found the phone number of one of
the two daughters of Barry, Marijane
Bonowitz of Billings, Montana. She
contacted her and told her that her
father’s ring had been found. The
daughter was excited to hear about the
ring and mentioned that her father had
spoken fondly of his time at Cascia.
The ring was then mailed back to its
rightful owner. A few weeks later,
Shyne contacted Easley to say a friend
had noticed a Facebook posted by
Barry’s other daughter, Erica Feltner of
Waukesha, Wisconsin. It went something
like this:
The phone rang. It was my sister.
“Remember Mom’s engagement
ring…?” Before I could answer, she
said, “I have it.”
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, sometime
between 1949 and 1952, my father
asked my mother to marry him. He
didn’t have the money for a traditional
diamond engagement ring, but he did
have a class ring. My dad paid a jeweler
to size the ring and set a tiny pearl in
the center. He presented the ring to my
mom, along with his marriage proposal.
My mother said yes. She wore the ring
throughout their engagement, although
she confessed to me years later she was
glad when she and my dad exchanged
plain gold wedding bands without
raised castles on them.
After the wedding, her engagement
ring was kept safe in her jewelry box,
30 CASCIA HALL NEWSLETTER
Reaching Out To Larger Community
Since our community extends beyond Tulsa, we have begun hosting out of
town alumni gatherings. Father Bernie Scianna O.S.A., Father John Sotak
O.S.A., Headmaster Roger Carter, Principal Shawn Gammill, members of the
Alumni Board and the Advancement Department joined Greg Gawey ’67 by welcoming
alumni to a reception at Jamil’s in Oklahoma City on May 30 th , 2013.
We had a great response and look forward to hosting an event in your city soon! For
more information contact Kerry Hornibrook in the Office of School Advancement
(918) 746-2614, khornibrook@casciahall.org, or Jane Easley (918) 748-2641, jeasley@casciahall.org.
ALUMNI - Where are you and what interesting things are you
doing? We would love to include your exciting news in the next
newsletter. Please contact Jane Easley in the Alumni Office, 918-
746-2641 or jeasley@casciahall.org.
coming out only now and then when
my sister and I “helped” our mother get
ready to go out. The jewelry box would
get emptied onto the bed. As we tried
on all the different pieces, mom would
tell us the story of how we became a
family. Every time she told the story it
ended the same way. That ring started
our family. She cherished the sincerity,
sentiment and uniqueness of her
ring from Cascia Hall. She said she
wouldn’t trade it for the biggest diamond
in the world.
In 1969 in Bozeman, Montana, I was
13. My mother gave me her engagement
ring to keep. “It’s a family heirloom,”
she explained. “Wear it, and
when you can’t wear it anymore, put
it away. When you have children,
tell them the story,” she said. “A ring
shouldn’t spend its whole life in a box.”
I was thrilled. A family heirloom!! It
never left my hand. I was so proud to
have it. I took very, very good care of
the family heirloom…right up until the
moment I lost it.
I was so ashamed. I confided in no one.
The secret would have to die with me.
I lost the family heirloom. My parents
could never, ever find out what I had
done.
I figured the ring would turn up.
Things I lose always turn up. I remembered
having it at the City Pool at
Bogert Park, just after school let out for
summer. It was on my hand, and the
next thing I knew, it was gone. It must
have slipped off. I spent the rest of that
summer, eyes trained to the ground,
but never found it.
I never had to explain. My mother
never asked. It was assumed that I had