Gonzalo Duran, 78; Crafted Footwear for Latin Dancers

Gonzalo Duran, an immigrant shoemaker who during four decades built a loyal clientele among flamenco and folklorico dancers by making custom-fit footwear from his home shop in Boyle Heights, died Friday in Los Angeles of heart failure. He was 78.

Duran was considered part of a dying breed of craftsmen, cutting leather by hand with his scarred and callused fingers like an Old World cobbler. Although he had suffered from kidney failure and endured regular dialysis treatments since September, he kept working in his small, cluttered shop until he was hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer a week before his death.

“All the dancers in town--and I mean literally all the dancers--are going to be devastated, because he’s the only one we use,” said Carolina Russek of Los Angeles, a professional dancer and instructor who has worn and recommended Duran’s shoes for 30 years. “It’s going to be a loss for the entire dance community.”

The diminutive shoemaker carved a market niche for himself by catering to the special needs of Mexican and Spanish dancers, drawing customers from as far away as Fresno and Santa Barbara. But he also took custom orders for theatrical costumes and celebrities such as Michael Flatley, the “Lord of the Dance.”

Duran was born in 1923 in Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico, which he frequently and fondly called “the world’s most civilized city” for its orderliness. When he was a child, his family moved to Rosario, Durango, which he recalled had no electricity, no running water and no doctor.

At 12, he left school to work in his father’s home shoe shop, learning the trade he would practice the rest of his life.

Duran lived for a time in Juarez, where he made cowboy boots, then moved to California in 1954. He said he decided to go into business here after receiving rude treatment from a clerk at a shoe store.

With his own clients, he put a premium on pleasing his customers.

“I want to make shoes exactly the way they want them,” he said. “Since I don’t charge very much, the customer leaves happy. And that’s what makes me happy.”

Duran is survived by his wife of 59 years, Isabel; a son, Gonzalo Jr.; and two daughters, Isabel II of Los Angeles and Marguerite of Van Nuys. He also leaves his father, Francisco, 103, of Juarez, and five siblings.

A funeral Mass is scheduled for 9 a.m. today at St. Mary Catholic Church in Boyle Heights. Interment will be at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale.