Third-generation Illinois jeweler Walter H. Volkmann died on Jan. 31 at age 85.

Volkmann joined Volkmann’s Diamond in Kankakee, Ill., founded by his grandfather, after studying architecture in college.

“My dad exemplified a man who put doing the right thing above everything else—above his own interests, above making money,” daughter Joyce Volkmann said in a statement to the Daily Journal. “He would treat others better than he treated himself.”

JCK