Oxford’s last cobbler is gone.
Perry Donald Hathaway, who owned and operated Perry’s Shoe Service in downtown Oxford from 1950-89, passed away on Tuesday, July 21, 2015 in Hot Springs, South Dakota. He was 98 years old.
Longtime Oxford Village resident Joe Bullen was a loyal customer of Hathaway’s for 29 years. He spoke very highly of the cobbler’s workmanship.
‘Your shoes always looked like they were brand new when you got them back from him,? Bullen said. ‘He was outstanding.?
Born in Almont in 1917, Hathaway came to live in Oxford four years later and eventually, spent the majority of his lengthy life in a house on Hudson St.
The only exception were the years he spent serving his country in the U.S. Army during World War II.
Stationed in the Pacific Theater, Hathaway was part of the 537th Salvage Repair Battalion, part of the Quartermaster Corps. His job was to repair combat boots.
He landed on the island of Saipan in August 1944. Until the war’s end, he spent his days working out of a trailer outfitted as a shoe repair shop.
Following the war, Hathaway returned home to his first wife Margaret, whom he had married in 1936, and went back to doing repair work at a shoe store in Lake Orion where he had been employed prior to the war.
Within a few years, he bought a shoe repair shop in downtown Oxford, located on the east side of N. Washington St., across from The Oakland Hotel, which is now a vacant lot.
A short while after opening Perry’s Shoe Service, he decided to construct a shop across the street in downtown’s northwest quadrant, next to the hotel. Today, it’s the location of Sisters Hair Care.
‘It was a good living for me all the time I was in it,? he said of the shoe repair game in a 2009 interview with the Leader. ‘Back in those days, every man’s shoes were made with stitches and nails, no cement. Everything could be repaired . . . What’s sold today are throwaway jobs.?
Hathaway always made sure to do a high-quality job on everyone’s shoes. That’s why stores located 25 to 35 miles away recommended customers take their footwear to him.
‘I loved it,? he wrote in his autobiography. ‘It was in my blood!?
Bullen noted Hathaway was always professional and ‘very personable.?
‘I never heard anyone ever say anything negative about Perry or his work. Never,? he said. ‘He did his job and he was well-known in town.?
Hathaway spent many, many years in downtown Oxford until he finally turned the building over to its new owners on Jan. 1, 1990.
Following his retirement, Hathaway lost Margaret after nearly 56 years of marriage.
However, he found love again at the age of 75.
In September 1992, he married his late best friend’s wife, Merolynn Burnham, a former Registered Nurse.
Merolynn passed away in August 2014 at age 88.
A man of faith, Hathaway was an active member of the First Baptist Church of Lake Orion (255 East Scripps Rd.) for many years.
A funeral for Hathaway has been scheduled at the church for 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 22.