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MIA SIMPSON
The News-Review
A Sutherlin woman was returned a symbol of love she thought she'd lost with her husband, who died of cancer, on the most unlikely of days -- his birthday.
Waltraud Nieminen had stopped at the Champion Car Wash Oil Lube Center on Garden Valley Boulevard in Roseburg on Aug. 3, after a trip to the coast, and was slightly unnerved when Rod Parham, the store's manager, stepped out and asked who owned her white Dodge Intrepid.
She was even less prepared for what happened next.
"He opened up his hand, and in his hand was my husband's wedding ring," Nieminen said. "I just sat there and cried."
Nieminen's husband, Donald, had lost his ring two years ago while undergoing treatment for melanoma. Nieminen said his ring had slipped from his finger because of weight he'd lost during his battle with the disease.
He died at the age of 78 in February 2005 after 6 1/2 years of marriage with Waltraud.
Nieminen had searched the car for the ring after she and her husband discovered it was missing, but had long given up.
After receiving the ring from Parham, she tipped him $5 and later called the store to thank him further.
"What really impressed me was how honest that guy was," she said. "To me, it was a gift from the Lord."
Parham had found the ring wedged between the passenger floorboard and the media console while vacuuming the car. He still gets overcome by the experience when asked to talk about it.
"They must have had a really strong love, and her husband wanted her to know he was thinking of her," he said. "It made me think, 'I hope I have a love like that.'"
* You can reach reporting intern Mia Simpson at 672-3321 or by e-mail at msimpson@newsreview.info.
The News-Review
A Sutherlin woman was returned a symbol of love she thought she'd lost with her husband, who died of cancer, on the most unlikely of days -- his birthday.
Waltraud Nieminen had stopped at the Champion Car Wash Oil Lube Center on Garden Valley Boulevard in Roseburg on Aug. 3, after a trip to the coast, and was slightly unnerved when Rod Parham, the store's manager, stepped out and asked who owned her white Dodge Intrepid.
She was even less prepared for what happened next.
"He opened up his hand, and in his hand was my husband's wedding ring," Nieminen said. "I just sat there and cried."
Nieminen's husband, Donald, had lost his ring two years ago while undergoing treatment for melanoma. Nieminen said his ring had slipped from his finger because of weight he'd lost during his battle with the disease.
He died at the age of 78 in February 2005 after 6 1/2 years of marriage with Waltraud.
Nieminen had searched the car for the ring after she and her husband discovered it was missing, but had long given up.
After receiving the ring from Parham, she tipped him $5 and later called the store to thank him further.
"What really impressed me was how honest that guy was," she said. "To me, it was a gift from the Lord."
Parham had found the ring wedged between the passenger floorboard and the media console while vacuuming the car. He still gets overcome by the experience when asked to talk about it.
"They must have had a really strong love, and her husband wanted her to know he was thinking of her," he said. "It made me think, 'I hope I have a love like that.'"
* You can reach reporting intern Mia Simpson at 672-3321 or by e-mail at msimpson@newsreview.info.
