By ALLISON TRUNKEY
atrunkey@soundpublishing.com

POULSBO — Rifling through his garage, Roosevelt Smith stumbled across a golden football.

Rather, he stumbled across a copper plaque in the shape of a football, inscribed: “North Kitsap Junior High School, 1958-1959, Ralph Munson, Mr. Football.”

Smith had purchased the award unknowingly, more than a year ago, as one of many items from an auction sale. He’s a collector and appraiser who specializes in watches and Black Americana, and had initially paid more attention to other items in the sale.

But a few weeks ago, Smith and his grandson were exploring the boxes in his garage when they found the plaque.

Smith recalled their excitement. He thought, “What can I do with this?”

He realized the recipient would likely still be alive and wanted to return the plaque to Munson if he could. He reached out to the Herald, who contacted Joyce Munson, Ralph’s wife.

The plaque’s journey began when Mrs. Munson was hospitalized in March 2015. She and her husband had moved from Poulsbo to the Kitsap Lake Mobile Home Park the previous October and, in downsizing, had put many of their belongings into a storage unit. When she was hospitalized, the bill for the unit went unpaid.

The contents of the unit were auctioned off: furnishings, family photos, mementoes — and Ralph’s award from 1959.

“I knew [the plaque] was in there. I had displayed it in a cabinet at home,” Mrs. Munson said.

Some remarkable things happened over the following months. Several items, photos mostly, were returned to her by people who knew her and had acquired them at sales.

But when she heard about her husband’s plaque from 1959, Mrs. Munson said, “I was dumbfounded. It was the first time I’d heard anything for a close to a year.”

Ralph Munson, 73, was born in Port Gamble. He went on to play tackle and pitch for the Vikings, lettering in football and baseball and garnering several honors.

After graduating, he worked at Pope and Talbot and then at Poulsbo Rural Telephone Co.; the latter company was owned by Sprint when he retired as a lineman and cable splicer after 35-plus years.

The plaque has sentimental value for the Munsons.

“His dad pushed him at [sports],” Mrs. Munson said. “Academics weren’t important to his father.” The cost: His writing and spelling weren’t as good as they should have been, and he wasn’t too tech savvy. When his job became more dependent on computers, he decided to retire. “He could play the game until the very end, but after 35 or 36 years he couldn’t work those computers,” she said.

Mr. Munson has had three strokes and, his wife said, “his memory is not the best.” Sometimes he remembers the special pieces of his past that are no longer around, like those mementoes from his storied prep sports career.

Sometimes, he doesn’t remember. Of the plaque, Mrs. Munson said, “This is going to bring it back.”

Smith hopes to return the plaque soon.

— Herald editor Richard Walker contributed to this report.

Roosevelt Smith displays the trophy he found at an auction. (Courtesy photo)

Ralph Munson’s yearbook photo from that year. (Poulsbo Historical Society)