Paul Walker did a kindness for a young couple 10 years ago that has only recently come to light.

The "Fast & Furious" actor whose untimely death shocked and saddened the world last week bought a $10,000 engagement ring for Kristen and Kyle Upham in 2004, the New York Daily News reported.

"It's still to this day the most generous thing anyone has ever done for me," Kristen Upham told CNN.

The military man had just returned from his first tour of duty in Iraq when the newlyweds bumped into Walker at Bailey Banks and Biddle Jewelers in Santa Barbara, Calif.

The couple, who had wed quickly before Kyle's deployment, couldn't afford the ring they liked best.

"I noticed there was someone else in (the store) but didn't give it much thought, and we started looking at rings," Kristen said. "(Kyle) kept wanting me to go bigger, and I kept saying, 'No, look at the prices.'"

That other person was Walker, and he and Kyle struck up a conversation and exchanged names. The Uphams eventually left the store without buying the ring, but were called later to return.

"One of the ladies came out holding a bag and just simply said, 'Here's your ring,'" Kristen said. "I think both of our mouths dropped.

"I think after a couple of minutes of shell shock it finally sunk in and we were like, 'Well how, who bought it?'" she remembered. "She just smiled at me and said it was better not to say."

Walker had purchased the ring but asked the store not to say anything, so the generous gift was a secret until store associate Irene King spoke out this week.

"He called the manager and he said, 'Umm, the ring that those people are looking at--put it on my tab,'" King told CBS Los Angeles. "Soon after that, he just left."

Walker died Nov. 30 in a car accident in Santa Clarita, Calif., along with driver, Roger Rodas. The 40-year-old actor was survived by his parents, four siblings and a 15-year-old daughter, Meadow.

Filming of the seventh "Fast & Furious" installment has been put indefinitely on hold; a tribute video remembering Walker's role in the films was recently posted by the franchise.

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