NYPD precious medal in Ohio
Valor token found in thrift shop
WHEN LORI Kline found an NYPD Medal of Valor in a $4 grab bag she bought at an Ohio thrift shop, she didn’t rest on her laurels.
The 47-year-old made her way to the website NYPDangels.com and announced her discovery on the memorial page for the medal’s recipient, John Morrissey.
Morrissey died way back in 1934, but Kline was determined to restore his legacy.
“I was shocked to find it. It was mixed in with a bunch of costume jewelry. I almost walked away without getting anything, but something made me turn around and go back,” Kline told the Daily News.
She bought it Dec. 27 and called the non-emergency NYPD number that night.
The person who answered said she could keep it. She then went online and posted about it.
“I wasn’t going to just give up. I knew I had to do the right thing,” she said. “I believe it was fate, and this is what he would want. I would want the same.”
Miraculously, NYPD Lt. Steven Jerome happened upon the post a day later thanks to an unrelated search for Morrissey’s relatives.
Morrissey’s only son, who died in 2015, left a portion of his estate to the department’s chaplains office. The NYPD clergy helped him navigate the trying time after his father died.
Lt. Jerome, was looking for someone to thank for the donation.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Jerome told the Daily News on Friday. “What are the chances of me checking only a day later? I was quite surprised.”
Jerome quickly reached out to Kline, and they plan to meet next Friday at the Barberton, Ohio, courthouse for a brief ceremony. The lieutenant will then bring the medal back to New York, where the search continues for the patrolman’s family.
“It’s going to be sad to give it up next week. I just feel like he’s with me now,” Kline said.