Walter Diamond, co-founder of local appliance and hardware retailer Snyder Diamond, has died of complications of lymphoma. He was 85.

Diamond started a scrap metal business in the late 1940s and later joined with Lou Snyder to form Snyder Diamond in the 1950s. The company operates decorative plumbing and hardware showrooms in Santa Monica, North Hollywood and Pasadena.

Born in Chicago in 1927, Diamond moved with is family to Los Angeles in 1935 and spent most of his childhood in Boyle Heights. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served toward the end of World War II. He was a longtime resident of Malibu and later Palm Springs.

Diamond died July 30. He is survived by his wife Sheri and four adult children.