Mettle Detected
By: Tony Rehagen (Illustrations by Katie McBride) | Categories: Alumni Interest
The gem was wreathed in the words “Georgia Institute of Technology” and the side said 1958. The jewel also featured faint gold-leaf markings, which turned out to be the Greek letters Theta and Xi.
Rall immediately circulated photos of his find on social media and on TV, in both Cincinnati and Atlanta, where Rall’s brother lived. He also contacted the president of Theta Xi fraternity. Within two weeks, Rall tracked the ring to its owner, Charles Anthony Freck, of Hilton Head, S.C. Apparently, after graduating from Tech, Freck, ME 58, got his master’s in Florida, and then went to work as a mechanical engineer for GE Aerospace and GE Aircraft, and he often visited the park in Springdale, where he lost his ring.
Freck died three years later—but not before he was reunited with his Georgia Tech keepsake. On a metal detector enthusiast website, Rall reported the reunion with a blurry photo of Freck brandishing the jewel, saying simply: “Happy his ring made it home.”
