A cherished handcrafted wooden cane owned by a 90-year-old veteran from California has remarkably made its way back to him following a heartfelt appeal from family members to the local community to locate this sentimental possession.
In an effort to retrieve Jim Pryce’s treasured maple wood walking stick, his daughter, Kim Manriquez, reached out to the Fresno community via social media, expressing her hopes for its return.
Initially, Manriquez believed her father misplaced the cane during a recent visit to a nearby Costco. Despite several attempts to locate it at the store, their efforts proved unsuccessful.
Manriquez shared online, “An employee from Costco assisted him in putting water in his car, and my dad accidentally left the cane in the cart. By the time he realized and returned, it was gone,” she detailed in her post.
Highlighting the cane’s significance, she added, “My dad is a 90-year-old veteran, a retired police lieutenant who served the community. This beautiful cane was crafted by another retired officer, adding to its sentimental value.”
Local news outlets picked up the story, interviewing Pryce in hopes of giving the search for the cane wider attention.
Images of the missing cane represented his life, not only his years of service as an Air Force Veteran, but his time as one of Fresno’s top cops before Lt. Pryce retired from the force after 35 years.
One picture showed it had several items on it including a small police badge affixed on it and his Honor Flight pin.
“They were sort of special to me because I had the police badge, the little tiny police badge below that were motorcycle wings,” Pryce told ABC 30 of the cane.
“Underneath that was an American flag, and that was to represent that I had been on the Honor Flight. Below that was a little image of an Air Force emblem.”
After the stories aired, an employee at Gibson Farm Market-on the campus of California State University Fresno-said they had found the cane at the market and contacted police, per KMPH.
In a message on Tuesday, Kim thanked everyone for their help in finding the lost precious family momento. “I want to thank everyone for the shares, comments and help regarding my dad’s cane,” Manriquez post read.
“It really warmed our hearts that there were so many people concerned and reached out.”
Despite Pryce’s days on the force being over, he is still very active in the community serving as a docent at the Veterans Memorial Museum in downtown Fresno.