Family businesses that grow into giant firms yet stay family-owned are rarities these days. One of the most enduring and successful is the Kohler Co., the power and plumbing fixtures firm based in its namesake Wisconsin village, thanks to the efforts and vision of former CEO Herbert Kohler Jr., who died Saturday at age 83.

The Kohler company was founded in 1873 by Herb Kohler’s grandfather, Austrian immigrant John Michael Kohler. Herb Kohler took over in 1972 when the company had some $160 million in annual revenue and expanded it into a global business with nearly $6 billion in revenue when he stepped down as CEO in 2015.