DELAWARE--The thank you cards are plentiful these days for business owner Ralph Martin.

  • Martin Shoe Repair has been a fixture in downtown Delaware for decades.
  • Owner Ralph martin says at age 88, now is the time to step away from his passion for good.
  • The store closes Tuesday April 30th 

“You know that feeling you get when you've done your thing and its so good all anybody can do is just sit back and watch,” says Martin’s companion and ex-wife Beatrice Martin Ross. 

The cobbler has been a fixture in downtown Delaware for the past 50 years.

“I wasn't able to do anything other than try to work. And i've never done anything but work. Keep going through here looking at different stuff, its just memories,” says Martin. 

Patrons will tell you, from shoes to belts, or anything leather...he could fix it all.

“I’ve seen saddles, golf bags, along with shoes and purses in here. He's done it all. He's done it all. He's a sole saver, that's what he is,” says Delaware resident Robert Green. 

Although the 88-year-old has been slowed by age and a stroke he suffered four years ago, Martin says now is the time to retire.

The Zanesville native moved his wife Beatrice and their children to Delaware in 1960.

But the long days at the shop took a toll on his marriage.

“I worked all the time you see. She kept telling me, Ralph, take a vacation,” says Beatrice. 

The two would part ways 30 years ago, with Martin remaining in Delaware and Beatrice moving to Chicago and remarrying.

After her second husband passed away in 2008, Beatrice moved back to Central Ohio. 

Fast forward to 2015, Beatrice injured her wrist in a fall. Martin came to visit, but Beatrice, the former nurse recognized something was off, and called 9-1-1, he had suffered a stroke.

Ever since then she's been his companion, and inspiration to keep the business open three days a week.

“We had been apart, and when I had my stroke, she came back,” says Martin. 

“He keeps telling himself I can't and he has to just prove that he can,” says Beatrice. 

Both agree, retirement doesn't mean this is the end of the road.

Martin plans to still meet for lunch with his friends in the business community, spend time with family, and pursue his hobby of fishing.

“You and your shop have been a happy part of my life in Delaware,” says Beatrice, reading a thank you card from a patron.