A Newfoundland soldier's war portrait and commendation record that were found in a landfill 25 years ago have finally been reunited with his family.

The portrait of Pte. Herbert Lewis Ryan, who died in August 1918 in France, and the commendation were discovered by military veteran Sandy Brace during a trip to the dump in the early 1990s — and stored in his shed for more than two decades.

Sandy's son, Steve Brace, who's also a vet, found the items while helping his father move and decided to try to track down someone connected to Ryan.

Right after CBC did an interview with Brace on Friday, he got a call back from one of the people he contacted, saying they were indeed related to the soldier in the photo.

Brace then set up a meeting Monday with Pte. Ryan's nephew, Norman Ryan, and great-niece, Heather Ryan Mercer, at The Rooms to hand over the portrait and the commendation.

Pte. Ryan's newphew Norman Ryan thanks Steve Brace for returning his uncle's portrait and commendation record to the family. Brace met the family Monday at The Rooms to hand over the long lost items. (CBC)

"It's been a long time, but he's made it home. Pte. Ryan is returning home," said Ryan Mercer.

She said the family has no idea how the items ended up in the St. John's dump all those years ago, pointing to the fact that they've placed great importance on honouring her great-uncle and his brother, Orlando Ryan — her grandfather — who also served in the First World War.

Ryan Mercer said while her grandfather didn't talk much about his days in the war, they always knew their uncle had served and died, adding that throughout her childhood the family would regularly tend to a war monument with his name on it at an old cemetery in Blackhead in Conception Bay North.

"The rest of the cemetery may be grown over, but his spot is still there," she said.

Pte. Herbert Ryan (left) and his brother Orlando Ryan (right), seen in an old Ryan family photo album. Herbert was killed in action in Aug. 1918 while Orlando returned home to Newfoundland, but rarely spoke of his years fighting in the First World War. (CBC)

Ryan Mercer said the family's records show that Ryan signed up with Central Ontario Regiment in Novemer 1917 and died less than a year later, in August 1918.

Plan to hang in childhood home

Now that they have his portrait and commendation, the family can continue to honour Ryan by displaying the items in the home he grew up in.

"To us they hold a good spot in our heart. We would never throw anything like that away," she said.

"My great-uncle left his own country, because at the time Newfoundland was not a part of Canada. He was living and working in Boston. He left Boston, crossed the border, came to Canada, enlisted in the Canadian army and went overseas and fought for the Canadian army, and died overseas."

Pte. Herbert Ryan's war portrait and commendation record are heading home after being found discarded in a dump 25 years ago. The Ryan family doesn't know how the items ended up in the landfill and are grateful to be able to once again put them on display. (CBC)

Now that his search is over, Steve Brace said he always knew that someone out there would appreciate the two items that his father found sitting next to heaps of garbage all those years ago.

He said credit is also due to his coworker Dave Trickett, who helped him track down the Ryan family using a 1935 census record.

"I just made a little effort to try and find somebody that might want it. That's all I can do," he said.

"It was very fortuitous that everything came together the way it did. And now the pictures are back where they belong in the family."