Paul Walker's anonymous engagement ring gift: Couple finds out nearly 10 years later

JEFF CHRISTENSEN/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Paul Walker bought the ring, but asked the store associate to keep his act of kindness quiet.

Paul Walker made a young unsuspecting couple's dream come true nearly a decade ago and they are now finding out he was the man to thank.
In an immeasurable act of kindness, Walker purchased an engagement ring for Kristen and Kyle Upham in 2004 after learning the young military man had just returned from his first tour of duty in Iraq. But the actor wanted to remain anonymous.
Now, in the wake of the actor's tragic death, jewelry store associate Irene King came forward with the story and the couple found out it was Walker's generosity that touched their lives so many years ago.
"It's still to this day the most generous thing anyone has ever done for me," Kristen Upham told CBS in Richmond, Va.
RELATED: PAUL WALKER PURCHASED ENGAGEMENT RING FOR SOLDIER'S BRIDE-TO-BE

CBS 6

Kristen and Kyle Upham were in the jewelry store talking about which engagement ring to buy. Kyle kept wanting to go bigger and Kristen kept saying it was too expensive -- and the 'Fast & Furious' actor overheard it all.

The couple had quickly wed before Kyle was deployed and upon his return they wanted to buy the perfect ring to seal their union. The Upham's went shopping for the piece at Bailey Banks and Biddle Jewelers in Santa Barbara, Calif. but could not afford the one they most desired.
"I noticed there was someone else in (the store) but didn't give it much thought, and we started looking at rings," Kristen detailed. "(Kyle) kept wanting me to go bigger, and I kept saying, 'No look at the prices.'"
The other person in the store was the "Fast & Furious" star. He engaged in dialogue with Kyle, who eventually realized who Walker was.
"When we were talking, we exchanged names (and) kind of talked about what each of us did," he recalled.
PHOTOS: PAUL WALKER REMEMBERED BY FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS

CBS 6

The actor surprised the couple by anonymously buying the $10,000 ring of their dreams.

"When he found out Kyle had just come back, I remember seeing the look in his face, it kind of transformed," Kristen added.
The Uphams eventually departed without the ring and later were called to return to the store.
"One of the ladies came out holding a bag and just simply said, 'Here's your ring,'" she said. "I think both of our mouths dropped."
Walker had bought the $10,000 ring but asked to leave his name out of it if the couple should ask who the buyer was.
PHOTOS: PAUL WALKER DEAD AT 40: A LOOK BACK AT HIS LIFE AND CAREER

losangeles.cbslocal.com

Jewelry store associate Irene King is speaking out about Paul Walker's generosity.

"I think after a couple of minutes of shell shock it finally sunk in and we were like, 'Well how, who bought it?'" she recalled. "She just smiled at me and said it was better not to say."
For nearly 10 years the Uphams have accepted that they were at the receiving end of someone paying it forward with no desire for reciprocity … until now.
"He called the manager over and said, 'The ring that those people were looking at, put it on my tab,'" King told CBS Los Angeles about when Walker bought it, changing the Upham's lives.
Upon hearing the story, the couple quickly knew the answer to the question they've carried with them since 2004.
Walker died Nov. 30 in a car accident in Santa Clarita, Calif., that killed him and the driver, Roger Rodas. The 40-year-old actor left behind his mother and father, two sisters, two brothers and a 15-year-old daughter, Meadow