Aggie Ring: Lost And Found

The Aggie Ring is a one of a kind treasure. When Robert Lambert’s Class of ’82 Ring went missing, he and his wife, Pam ’85, were forced to accept that the symbol of his days in Aggieland was lost forever. Or at least, that is what they thought.

Robert and Pam Lambert were very proud of the day Robert had received his Aggie Ring. Having saved the $250, Pam was able to surprise Robert with the Ring, and Robert’s father surprised them both by having a diamond placed in the crest. The Lamberts were ecstatic. “It really was special,” Pam said.

In 1985, after Robert completed his master’s degree, a business trip took the couple to Corpus Christi. Worried about losing his Aggie Ring in the ocean, Robert slipped it off his finger and tucked it away in the hotel room for safekeeping before heading to the beach. When the couple returned hours later, the Ring was nowhere to be found.

Panicked, they did all they could to find Robert’s Ring. They called the police, checked with local pawn shops, and scoured the room, but to no avail; in their minds, the Ring was lost forever. “For our family, the Aggie Ring is more than a ring, it is a business connection that is recognized everywhere we go,” said Pam. They knew they had to replace the Ring. Although the price had increased over the intervening years, the couple committed to saving and purchased another Aggie Ring for Robert. With the replacement Ring now taking the place of Robert’s original, it seemed like life was back to normal for the Lamberts.

Eight years after the Ring disappeared, the Lamberts’ son, Jason, was preparing for a mission trip to Mexico with his school. Prior to the trip, the students were seeking donations to take with them for a Mexican orphanage. Pam packed up a blue tweed suitcase full of items from around the house and donated it; she even told them to keep the old suitcase; it had already survived two garage sales so “surely it was meant to bless someone in Mexico,” she said.

A few weeks after the students returned home from their mission trip, Pam received a phone call. In broken English, the caller tried to tell Pam they had found a ring. Pam began to sweat as she listened to what the caller had to say. It must be Robert’s missing Aggie Ring! The Ring that the Lamberts thought was lost in the Corpus Christi hotel room had actually fallen inside the lining of their suitcase.

What followed the surprising phone call was a chain of Aggie Network connections that began with Pam’s mother in McAllen and ended with Pam receiving Robert’s long-lost Ring from a kind Aggie traveling through Austin on his way to College Station. They met at a gas station just off the interstate. “I will never forget it,” Pam said. At that moment, she held a precious artifact she thought her family would never see again.

Robert Lambert ’82 presents his own replacement Aggie Ring to his son, Justin Lambert ’15, at Aggie Ring Day in November 2015.

The Aggie Spirit clearly runs deep in the Lambert blood. Robert and Pam’s children, Jason ’08, Allison, ’10, and Justin ’15, all attended A&M and now wear Aggie Rings like their dad. Like his mother, Justin knew the power of the Aggie Ring. With the first Ring back where it belonged on Robert’s finger, Justin told his dad that he would be honored to wear the replacement Ring his dad had purchased and worn for several years.

Justin now proudly wears his dad’s Class of ’82 Ring, which his father presented to him at Aggie Ring Day at the Clayton W. Williams, Jr. Alumni Center in November 2015. “It was so amazing when we went to Ring Day,” Pam said. “It was like the Ring presentation brought closure to everyone.”