WWII veteran's ring reunited with daughter after accidental donation

A ring belonging to a World War II veteran that was mistakenly donated to the Sunshine House Inc. in Sturgeon Bay has been reclaimed.

Early Tuesday afternoon, Denise Chenevert, of Sturgeon Bay, picked up the ring after contacting the agency last week when she saw their Facebook post.

As Action 2 News reported last week, the post was shared in hopes of reuniting the owner with the ring after workers had polished the ring and discovered the World War II veteran logo on it.

According to Jeremy Paszczak, director of sales and marketing of the Sunshine House, Chenevert made a donation on January 10 of old jewelry that she thought was cosmetic jewelry her mother had owned.

The jewelry had been in a few boxes in Chenevert's attic, where they were kept after her mother passed away in 2014.

Chenevert decided to donate the boxes since her parents weren't wealthy and didn't recall them ever owning expensive jewelry.

When she saw the Facebook post, she remembered her father was a WWII veteran who served for two years as a radio and satellite repair specialist and also assisted missions for the Office of Strategic Services -- the predecessor to the CIA.

When Chenevert called the Sunshine House, she was able to describe other items that were in the box the ring was found in and also answered questions.

The insignia on the ring is the Ruptured Duck, a patch awarded to service members when they were honorably discharged from service.

Due to most of the resources being used up at the time, when members were discharged, they were given the patch to wear on their uniform and permission to wear their uniform for up to 30 days after discharge.

This allowed them to be recognized as discharged and not AWOL.

Chenevert says she's happy to have the ring back in her family, and thanked Sunshine House for their efforts in tracking down the owner.