Couple reclaims dream of engagement ring

To hear them tell it, they were meant to be.

Michael Moore Jr., a Marine corporal, was recovering from injuries sustained during combat operations in Iraq in 2005 and taking a break with comrades in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., the following year when he met Jenna Yoder.

They quickly hit it off and stayed in touch over a few years, eventually dating, then setting up house in Audubon, Camden County, in 2011. Moore had saved for a ring and planned to ask Yoder to marry him in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy struck.

The ring fund was depleted to replace a collapsing porch, regrade the yard, and clean up a flooded basement.

That meant the dream of proposing was on hold - until the owners of a jewelry store heard about the Camden County couple's problem and stepped in with a gift: a custom-designed, two-carat diamond engagement ring valued at $10,000.

Roman Jewelers, which has a store in Flemington, N.J., wanted to thank a member of the military for serving and will present the ring to the couple at the grand opening of its new location in Bridgewater, Somerset County, on Dec. 4.

"This is life-changing," said Moore, 30, a senior field service technician for L-3 Communications Security & Detection Systems in Philadelphia. "It's literally a blessing."

Moore, a Barrington native, and Yoder, 29, a native of Wooster, Ohio, hope to marry in the spring or summer.

"I always knew he was the one," said Yoder, a news producer at NBC10. "This was meant to be."

Moore, a Haddon Heights High School graduate, would likely have remained in Iraq with his unit and never met Yoder if he had not fallen from a building during a powerful sandstorm while on guard duty in Fallujah. He had several broken bones, a concussion, and back injuries, and was eventually reassigned to Twentynine Palms, Calif.

During a weekend with other Marines at Lake Havasu, Moore met Yoder, an Ohio University student who was with friends on spring break. "I told my friends, 'I just met my soul mate,' " she said.

By the time they were ready to marry, though, the "money pit" - their Audubon house - blocked their plans. The damage from Sandy and other storms had to be repaired.

"We didn't want to go into debt for a ring," Moore said.

That's when he saw online news of a contest being held by Roman. "I was curious," Moore said. "I thought I would take a chance."

He submitted his story and was shocked this month when he learned that he had won.

The co-owner of Roman, Sophie Shor, had been looking for a couple where at least one had served recently in the military. Shor, her husband, Roman, and two young children had emigrated from Russia in 1980 with very little more than dreams of being free and starting a business.

They opened a small jewelry shop in Flemington in 1989 and gradually grew their business. Their new store in Bridgewater is another dream come true in their adopted homeland.

"We wanted to thank a military member for serving and defending our country," Shor said. "It is an honor to help them.

"This country gave us every opportunity," she said. "This is our way of giving back."

The ring has a single diamond flanked by six smaller ones along each side of the band. "It's gorgeous, beautiful," said Yoder.

"It's changed our lives in an awesome way," added Moore. "Now we have to buy a wedding ring."

But first comes the engagement party at the opening of Roman's store in Bridgewater, where Moore's and Yoder's family and friends will gather to witness the official proposal.

Is Moore nervous?

"Yes, a little bit, because it will be in front of a lot of people," he said. "Usually, it's a private moment."