Widow Wore Late Husband's Wedding Ring on a Chain Around Her Neck for 1 Year — Then She Discovered It Wasn't His

"I realized, 'My God, it’s not his. It’s somebody else’s.' I’d been wearing it for a year. It stunned me" Fran Bukrey recalled of the startling discovery

Since her husband Richard's death in March 2023, widow Fran Bukrey has held close to his wedding ring, finding comfort in wearing the treasured jewelry piece on a chain around her neck. However, just days before the couple's June 13 wedding anniversary this year, Fran made a startling discovery — the ring is not Richard's, according to the Evanston RoundTable.

Fran told the local news outlet that after Richard — a retired Loyola University Chicago physics professor — died at Evanston Hospital following a brief illness, she "got a chain and put [Richard's wedding ring] around my neck" as a way to feel connected to her late husband of 58 years.

On that fateful day in June, she happened to be outside soaking up some sunshine when she felt moved to examine the ring's inscription and sentimentally recall the moment when she first slipped the simple gold band on Richard's finger on their wedding day.

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It was then that Fran realized something was not right.

“The date didn’t match,” the retired social worker told the Evanston RoundTable. “The date inscribed was clear. Then I realized, 'My God, it’s not his. It’s somebody else’s.' "

She continued, "I’d been wearing it for a year, and I just felt really broken about it. It stunned me that something like this could happen.”

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Determined to solve the mystery, Fran took the ring to a local jewelry shop to have an expert examine the slightly faded inscription more closely using a loupe.

The jeweler confirmed that the inscription read, “MG to GB July 20-08" — initials and a wedding date belonging to an unknown couple.

The news prompted Fran to think back to the stressful days that preceded Richard's death — when he visited the emergency room and soon ended up in the intensive care unit — in search of clues about the ring mishap.

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But for the grieving widow, her recollection of those fraught days remains hazy. “My memory of that time is just gone," Fran told the Evanston RoundTable. "Somewhere along the line someone gave [Richard's ring] to me, but I have racked my brain, and I can’t place when I got that ring.”

She does recall that one bag of miscellaneous personal items from Richard's hospital stay went missing, per the outlet. However, she said she believes it's unlikely that Richard's wedding ring was in that particular bag.

Fran next turned to Evanston Hospital for help, and was connected with patient advocate Diana Alvarez, who conducted her own investigation, according to the Evanston RoundTable. “She was quite attentive,” Fran said of Alvarez. “She checked with all the places he was and with security.”

Leaving no stone unturned, Fran also took the difficult step of contacting the hospital's morgue, but hit yet another dead end. A technician there told her "there was no one there in the time frame [Richard] was there who would be a match."

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In a statement to the Evanston RoundTable, the hospital's owner, Endeavor Health, said they are "deeply sorry about the circumstances surrounding [Richard's] wedding band."

The company added: "We are taking this very seriously and are working diligently to recover this precious item. We encourage anyone with information about the ring inscribed ‘July 20-08 MG to GB’ to contact our patient advocacy office by calling 847.570.1536 or emailing patientadvocacy@northshore.org."

As for Fran, she is continuing her own search and has been spreading the word on a local Facebook group, Everything Evanston.

She told the Evanston RoundTable that recovering Richard's wedding ring "would mean the world" to her.

“It would bring back a part of him and of our history," she added. "We were married 58 years. It’s a whole lifetime. It would mean a lot.”

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