A 73-year-old woman’s wallet that was stolen in 1962 was returned to her last month after it was found by a construction company as they were revamping an old movie theater in Lodi, California, the same place the wallet was taken from her.
Lost And Found
The news can often be a real downer. Plenty of times, it’s stories of wrongdoing that make it to the front page. However, every once in awhile, there’s a great story of someone doing something good that makes it to the news. Recently, that happened in Lodi, California.
Donna Brown lost her wallet as a young teen at a movie theater and never expected to see it 58 years later. However, when construction crews found it, they wanted to do the right thing and return it to her. It all started at the Sunset Theater, a small local movie theater was a popular hangout spot for teens in the early 1960s. Donna was one of them.
Doing the Right Thing
It was 1962, and she was just 15 years old. She’d brought her red wallet with her. In addition to money, it had personal souvenirs in it like photos of friends and a lucky silver dollar. They were among her most prized possessions.
So understandably, Donna was upset when she lost the wallet. She’d put it down so she could wash her hands. But when she was done at the sink, she couldn’t find it. She was disappointed that it was lost, of course.
But when it didn’t turn up within a reasonable amount of time, she let it go. By 2020, she certainly had never expected to see it again. That’s why she was so surprised when she got a call from Terry Clark, the current owner of the Sunset Theater. In May of 2020, he was renovating it.
It’s one of the mid-century jewels of Lodi, California, even if it has become a little rundown. During the work, someone found a red wallet stuffed into the wall. It seems that whoever took the money from the wallet hid the evidence after doing so. But there were still pictures and other personal effects inside. Clark wanted to find the owner if he could and return the item.
Donna Brown was pleasantly surprised to get her old wallet back with the mementos inside. Clark commented that the wallet, with signed photos from friends, reminded him of Facebook. That was the way teens communicated and shared memories in the 1960s.
He wanted to give this woman her memories back if he could. It was a very nice gesture and one that Brown clearly appreciated a great deal. It gave everyone in Lodi a little boost, knowing that in their town, people still want to do the right thing.
