On Thanksgiving eve in 1958, Billy Nored died in a car wreck on his way home from Mississippi State University at the age of 19.
Now, more than 60 years later, his Greenwood High School Class of ’57 ring has found its way back to the family.
Last weekend, Luther Wade, a senior vice president at the Bank of Commerce and a metal-detecting enthusiast, was using his hobby to help a friend locate a water line when he picked up some unusual readings.
This is a close-up of the ring of Billy Nored’s that Luther Wade found last weekend.
The gold ring with a ruby gemstone was in the front yard of a Poplar Street home where one of the late GHS quarterback’s contemporaries used to live.
After the ring was cleaned, Wade posted a picture of the ring to Facebook and asked for any information about to whom it could belong.
“I immediately wanted to give it back to the family it belonged to,” Wade said.
With the help of the community and the ring’s faintly visible initials “WHN,” which Wade learned stand for William Hiram Nored, the right family was located.
“At first, people that graduated during that time period were making comments saying, ‘Hey, it could be this person. Let me get out my annual and look’ — that kind of thing,” Wade said.
After more than 85 comments and 250 shares, the answer was finally discovered.
William Hiram “Billy” Nored was the quarterback for Greenwood High School and graduated with the class of 1957.
Elizabeth Nored Hardin, Billy Nored’s niece, stood outside North New Summit School, where she teaches second grade, to display the returned family heirloom.
“I love it,” Hardin said with tears in her eyes, as she held up the ring.
Hardin said she never saw the post. But the small-town voices made their way to her, and she was able to contact Wade to retrieve it.
This isn’t the first time Wade’s metal-detecting hobby has led to the return of a family artifact.
In 2018, he was able to return a World War II dog tag to the veteran’s widow. He also has found countless Civil War artifacts, including old bullets and antebellum-era coins.
Much like all the artifacts Wade finds, the ring has a fair share of mystery. No one knows quite how it ended up in the yard.
Hardin said she does not care so much as to how it got lost. She is just happy it was returned.
“All I know is I have the ring ... and I’m still in awe,” she said.
• Contact Adam Bakst at 581-7233 or abakst@gwcommonwealth.com. Twitter: @AdamBakst_GWCW
