62 Years Later, Lost Purse Found Behind Locker

It was returned to original owner's 5 kids
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 18, 2020 5:32 PM CST
Teen Lost Her Purse in 1957; It Was Behind Locker All Along
Stock photo.   (Getty Images / Brett Taylor)

Patti Rumfola lost her purse at school one day in 1957 and never saw it again. More than six decades later, it was found behind a locker at the Ohio school, ABC News reports. A custodian making repairs at the school, which was Hoover High School when the purse was lost but is now North Canton Middle School, found the purse last year, wedged between the set of lockers and the wall, CNN reports. Officials took to social media in an attempt to track down its owner. Last week, they reported that they had. Sadly, Rumfola had already passed away, North Canton City Schools said in a Facebook post, but her five children gathered to open the purse together.

Inside were black and white photos of Rumfola's friends, family, and a dog; makeup; a comb; pencils; a ruler; a library card and membership cards for the YMCA and American Junior Red Cross; a high school football schedule; and 26 cents—out of which each of Rumfola's children kept one special wheat penny to remember their mom, who died in 2013 at age 71, per USA Today. She had worked as a costume designer, seamstress, and even taught high school herself in Maryland before retiring. See pictures of the items found in the purse here. (A class ring lost in Maine turned up 47 years later ... in Finland.)

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