Texas jeweler Randy Flatau, who owned and operated Randy’s Fine Jewelers in Beaumont for several decades, died Wednesday of complications from COVID-19.
Flatau, 70, was the second person to die of the coronavirus in the area, News 4 San Antonio reported this morning.
The City of Beaumont Public Health Department announced that the jeweler had no known recent travel history, but he did have underlying health issues. There are currently 25 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the region, the news outlet reports.
Family and friends of Flatau’s have been posting tributes to him online and say they will remember him as a genial and generous person. The late jeweler was also seemingly made of tough stuff—his store was robbed multiple times over the years, and Flatau was shot in the leg after returning fire with an armed robber in 2012.
“Every time I would talk to him or answer his phone calls, he always had an upbeat story,” friend Darrell Troppy told the Beaumont Enterprise. “It was always about helping out a little old lady or someone who didn’t have enough money. We would try to work out something to get something on somebody’s finger that didn’t have the money to get it done. He was always helping people. That is just how he was.”
Beaumont City Councilman W.L. Pate told the news outlet that the jeweler “was an excellent example of what small business in America is all about. He was about the people he served. He did not try to sell people things. He wanted to help them get what they wanted.”
Flatau’s son-in-law, Austin Williams, wrote on Facebook, “The world lost an amazing human being today. We are all heartbroken. We lost a friend, father-in-law, business partner, grandfather, uncle, father, husband, and a great man! We love you Randy! May you rest in peace my friend!”
Flatau’s family members, who talked to News 4, said they wanted to stress how serious the threat COVID-19 currently is to their community and urged people to stay home through the pandemic.
Top: Jeweler Randy Flatau (image via: Facebook)
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