For four decades at what was once a fixture on the Capitol Square, John Hendrickson sold jewelry to governors and the average Joe alike.

His goal, according to one of his daughters, was “to make sure everybody truly got something they loved.”

Hendrickson, the longtime owner of the former E.W. Parker Jewelers, died of heart failure Tuesday at the age of 89.

Hendrickson began working at the store formerly owned by his maternal grandfather, Edward Worthington Parker, after his service in World War II, during which he was a prisoner of war and was awarded a purple heart. The store’s roots reached back to 1857, but it was not owned by Hendrickson’s family until 1916, his daughter, Susan Pleus, said.

The store, at 9 W. Main St., was the “premier jewelry store” in Madison, she said, and Hendrickson counted among his customers former Gov. Lee Dreyfus, former Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Heffernan and other political figures.

Her father officially retired from the store in 1984, but stayed on part-time for a few years after that. All of his four children worked at or ran the store until it closed in 2003.

Its former site on the Square is now part of Brocach Irish Pub.

Pleus said her father “loved selling to people” and that he brought in colored gems such as rubies, emeralds and sapphires that weren’t common in many jewelry stores at the time.

At its height, the store employed about 25 people, she said.

The store was robbed a couple of times when Hendrickson owned it, Pleus said, including one time in the 1950s when “my dad actually chased (the robber) down and jumped on his car” to detain him.

Hendrickson suffered from congestive heart failure for several years, but until last week was able to bounce back after stints in the hospital, Pleus said.

“He was too bull-headed to keep him down,” she said.