Eric Kaufman left behind his diamond ring, a necklace with his name engraved, after his death, his family said Thursday.
The family said it would not reveal what Kaufman was wearing at the time of his passing, citing privacy laws.
Kaufman, 48, was found dead Wednesday in his apartment at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in downtown Chicago.
He had been battling cancer for more than a year.
He was married and had a daughter, and he had a son and a daughter-in-law, according to a statement from his daughter, Stephanie Kaufman.
Kauffman was in the process of selling his apartment, but he had left it unoccupied for more or less two months, his daughter said.
“He was kind of a private person,” she said.
“He didn’t want anyone to know.”
Kaufmans death comes as many families have come together to remember Kaufman and honor his memory, as a number of people around the country mourn his death.
Kamau, an attorney who represented the city of Chicago in its bid to block a new plan to redevelop the RCA Field, also worked for the U.S. Justice Department and was a key player in the civil rights lawsuit against the city.
His wife, the actress Jessica Hahn, wrote on Twitter that they had left their diamond jewelry, a bracelet with his image engraved, in his memory.
“To our Diamonds, Eric Kaufman,” she wrote.
“You made me feel like I could count on you, even when the odds were against us.
I love you, my friend.”
Kamenau was the son of two Chicagoans.
He worked as a lawyer in the late 1980s and early 1990s before joining the civil litigation team at the U, the company that runs the Rheinmetall factory where he worked.
He was also the first African American to be hired at the company, which he founded in 1971.
Kaumons brother, John Kaufman, was a partner in the firm, and the two worked closely together in the years after his father’s death, according for the family.
His daughter, who is also a lawyer, said the jewelry was donated to the city by the company and donated to a local hospital.
She said she was unsure what he had done with it.
As of Thursday afternoon, there were still no obituaries for Kaufman.
He leaves behind two daughters, ages 9 and 4.
A memorial service for Kaufman is scheduled for later this week in New York City.
Associated Press writers Kim Hale in Chicago and Matthew Daly in Los Angeles contributed to this report.