Ron Feil, operator of The Bootery, passes away at 93

A generous and caring Toowoomba man who would deliver slippers to those in aged-care homes and Baillie Henderson Hospital, and owned the number one-stop for farming families has passed away on the weekend.

Ron Feil ran The Bootery in Toowoomba's CBD for decades before his retirement in the mid 1990s.

Darling Downs residents are this week remembering a well-known bootmaker who sadly passed away on the weekend.

Ron Feil gained a reputation across the region as the owner of Toowoomba’s The Bootery shoe store, which his father had started under another name in 1911.

Mr Feil’s father, Albert, started the Oakey Shoe Store in Campbell Street, Oakey, before moving his family to Toowoomba in 1935.

ROWBOTHAM BUILDINGS: The Oakey Shoe Store commenced business in the right hand shop (upper photo) with Mr Albert Feil as manager and part proprietor who remained at that place until he sold out to Laurie Rush in 1935 who in turn sold his business (still the Oakey Shoe Store) when he retired in 1995.

Mr Feil worked at his father’s Ruthven Street store, which was later moved to Bowen Street, for the remainder of his life.

“When Albert passed away, he left the store to his four children. So Ron was a part owner but the only one of the four children who managed or ever worked in the store,” Mr Feil’s daughter Celia Southcombe said.

“(He) continued to run the business until his retirement in 1993, at age 65, when the store was sold to Masons Solicitors to become a solicitors’ office.

“It is now run by Craig Mason, who was a customer of the store since he was a kid.”

Albert Feil and Ron Feil (pair on the left) at The Bootery shoe shop in Toowoomba's CBD. Photo taken in 1950s.

Mrs Southcombe said her dad was well-known in the region for being the man who provided shoes for farmers, families and schoolchildren alike.

“Dad had a personal relationship with many of his customers. In many cases he served shoes to three generations of the Toowoomba and Darling Downs community,” she said.

“The signage on the store read “Footwear for the family”.

“His was the only shoe store in Toowoomba that did not have carpet on the floor (it had lino) … which was preferred by the farming community on the Darling Downs, because they could walk in with their dirty boots on and not have to worry about the carpet.

“Farmers would come from far and wide with their large families to buy RM Williams riding boots for the entire family.

“(He) also would drive all over town, taking slippers to old folks in the aged care homes in Toowoomba, as well as to people in Baillie Henderson Hospital.”

Mrs Southcombe said her dad was a true gentleman and would be remembered by many.

“He was very friendly and would go the extra mile for his customers,” she said.

“He would always say ‘the customer always comes first’.”