‘One of life’s little gifts’: Jeweler restores family heirloom

Oct 3, 2022

When Kelley Doak was 16, she was chosen from among more than 50 cousins to receive her grandmother’s rosary.

The rosary was constantly in her grandmother’s hands, she said, as the devout woman prayed with a doily covering her lap. 

For Doak, the more than 100 year old rosary was a precious heirloom — one she hoped to pass down to her children. She took care of it for decades, through moves across the country and back.

Recently, while moving out of a home in Swifts Beach, the now-tarnished rosary broke when her belongings shifted in the back of the truck.

Doak said she thought the damage to the rosary was likely permanent or would cost hundreds of dollars to fix.

Doak decided to bring the rosary to Gold World on Cranberry Highway to see whether the piece was fixable, but said she expected to be charged several hundred dollars or be referred to Boston.

Within minutes, jeweler Steve Fillion returned the piece to her — polished to its former glory and perfectly intact. 

“He waved his magic wand,” she said. “It’s absolutely brilliant.”

And he didn’t charge a cent.

“If this means that much to you, it means that much to me,” Doak recalled Steve Fillion saying.

Doak, who works at Burger King, said that the interaction was “one of life’s little gifts.” 

“I held it in my hand and, of course, said a little prayer to my grandmother upstairs,” Doak said.

She said she wanted to share the story to help bring people’s awareness to all the good that happens in town. 

“Wareham needs these good stories,” she said.