(WTNH) — Good things come to those who wait, and sometimes when you least expect them.

Take Dan Hoey for example. Recently, Hoey received a call from the Alumni Office at Xavier High School. But instead of asking for a donation, they called to tell him they had something of his: His class ring, missing for 39 years.

“And it just comes back. It was a big part of it, part of my life. And it was important at the time. It was a huge milestone, to be potentially graduating from Xavier at the time. And to have lost it was pretty upsetting.”

Back in 1982, Hoey was a Junior at Xavier High School in Middletown. Hoey received his class ring and proudly wore it when he and some friends spent a summer day at Misquamicut Beach in Rhode Island.

“At some point, I realized that my ring was gone,”  Hoey said.

Days turned into months, and months into years. Life went on for the Old Saybrook native. There was one time in particular that he thought about his missing ring. It was now time to decide about getting a college ring.

“I thought, yeah, I didn’t have such good look with my high school ring,” Hoey said. “I’m thinking probably not getting a college ring.”

Then two weeks ago, Hoey received a phone call from the Xavier Alumni Association. They weren’t looking for a donation.

“Turns out they were looking to give me something, not get something from me,” he said.

Nancy Hedman worked at Misquamicut. Hedman, who lives in Florida these days, came across a class ring while cleaning her attic with her husband. The ring had Middletown Falcons and the initials “DJH” with the year.

She did her homework, first reaching out to other Xavier High Schools in the region.

“I think she was just dialing for dollar, trying to find the right school and the right person,” Hoey said, “and she did. She found the Alumni Association at Xavier in Middletown.”

Suzanne Berry from the Xavier Advancement Office took over from there. Berry, who graduated that same year from Mercy High School, knew Hoey. Once she saw the initials, she thought just maybe it was Dan Hoey. She was happy she was right.

“And you know, it was something nice that happens in the world, Instead of all the depressing stuff that’s going on. He was just very, very happy,” Berry said.

“It just reinforces the goodness in people now,” Hoey said. “It was such an important piece of my life for a very short period of time… She took the time to see if she could reunite the ring back with the person who lost it.”

Something very good came to Hoey when he was least expecting it.