He Fought Fires In Wyckoff And Mahwah And Fixed Shoes. 'Lou The Shoe' Has Died.

MAHWAH, NJ — A Wyckoff and Mahwah native who repaired shoes at his Wyckoff shop for decades has died at age 96, his obit says.

Louis "Lou The Shoe" Rizzo passed away on Nov. 3 at Villa Marie Claire Hospice in Saddle River after a battle with leukemia, the obit says.

Rizzo was honored recently for the Wyckoff Township Committee, as he had served in the Wyckoff Fire Department starting in 1957.

"The Wyckoff Fire Department is sad to announce the passing of lifelong member Lou Rizzo 'Louie the Shoe,' the department wrote recently. "His presence has touched many lives and his spirit will remain in our hearts forever. Rest easy brother."

He was born in East Harlem in 1928 and enlisted in the Army, where he won a boxing championship in Germany, his obit says. He married his wife Dolores and moved to Wyckoff in 1956, raising four children.

"Over the past twenty years, he and his friend Bill shared deep conversations about life and death, ensuring he would never fear his journey's end," the obit says. It says Bill and wife Maureen found a hospice that provided him the care he deserved.

Read more about "Lou the Shoe" in his obituary here.