Delaware County man searches for lost ring belonging to his late father

PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - A Delaware County man lost his ring in the bathroom at the Flyers game Tuesday night. The ring belonged to his late father and has been in his family for almost 100 years.

"When you have a ring like that it just kind of gives you a reminder about how strong the family is," said Paul Verna. He gets emotional talking about this heirloom ring that's been passed down for generations in his family. He remembers his grandfather having it.

"He passed it on to my father. My father passed last year and I got the honor of wearing it," he said. He can tell you every detail on it.

"It's a gold ring. It has initials NV on it for Nicholas my grandfather's name. V for Verna. It has a diamond and a tiger wrapped around the front of it." Paul wore it every day until Tuesday night. He went to the flyers game with his daughter Sophia, son Robbie and his nephew Jason. Somehow the ring slipped off in the bathroom after an attendant gave him paper towels to dry his hands.

"I threw the towel away, tipped him, walked out of the bathroom and realized my ring was gone. It came off. Matter of fact earlier that night I was driving and in the parking lot it fell off in the car," said Paul. They went frantically back to the bathroom attendant.

"He told us that someone found a ring, actually kicked it, picked it up and asked him what he should do with it and the attendant told that person to take it to Guest Services."

But it wasn't there. The reminder of his father Robert Joseph seen in a photo wearing the ring before he died at 90 years old in October of last year was now gone.

"A sense of emptiness. I feel like I let my family down because something like that should be passed down to my son and forward," he said. The family's only hope at this time of thanksgiving is that someone returns it.

"I have a lot of memories of my father. I just felt really close to him by having that ring on my finger," said Paul.

Verna is offering a $1,000 reward for the return on his ring.

Contact Shawnette Wilson on Facebook here, on Twitter @swilsonfox29 or on Instagram @shawnettewilsonfox29 if you found the ring.