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The Life of Edward William Hyer

Obituary: Mr. Edward W. Hyer.

Mr. Edward W. Hyer died Monday, December 3, 1928 at his home, 318 North kansas avenue. The funeral services were held on Wednesday at 2 o'clock, conducted by Rev. F.C. Everitt of the first Presbyterian church. Burial was made in the Olathe cemetery.

Mr. Hyer was born December 20, 1858, at Kankakee, Illinois, where he lived until the age of 20, when he came west. After going through most of the western states which took him as far as the Pacific coast, he came back to Olathe, to settle down in 1878, just 50 years ago.

At the time his brother, the late Charles Hyer, was a teacher of shoe-making at the School for the Deaf. mr. Hyer rented the building where the Mirror office now stands, started a shoe repair shop and put his brother Ed, six years his junio, in charge.

In 1880 Mr. Hyer gave up his work at the Deaf School and came down town and became a full partner in the business with Ed, the firm know as Hyer Brothers.

It was the first shoe repair shop in Olathe, and business was good from the first. their attention was confined exclusively to repairing shoes until the location was moved to the hird door west of the First National Bank.

Later, the location was changed to the Ocheltree building, where the Gas Company is now located, until fire wiped out most of the block.

The next move in loction was to the old Opera house, lower floor, where three rooms were occupied, and when the rent was raised from $10.00 a month to $15 per month for each room, they bought the old Dow location on the corner and placed the workmen upstairs until 1912, when the old American House was purchased and remodeled and is the present location all three floors being used and where almost 100 men are employed in the C.H. Hyer Sons Cowboy Boot Factory, the largest strictly hand made boot factory in the United States.

In 1890 Ed went to Chillicothe, Missouri and was in the grocerty business for a number of years with his brother-in-law, Dick Strethlow, and on his return to Olathe, he was made general superintendent of the plant, which position he held until two years ago, when ill health forced him to give up active work, but he was kept as an advisor and his salary was continued just the same until the time of his death.

Mr. Hyer knew the boot factory in the minutest details and his work and suggestions were found to be very valuable. Ed was a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge and active in its work. he had a heart of unusual size and he was never happier than when doing someone a good turn.

Mrs. Hyer died a year ago last May. There were never any children. Surviving are two sister, Mrs. Albert Ott of Olathe and Mrs. Rachel Schure of Kankakee, Illinois, and three brothers, Fred and John Hyer of Kankakee, and Chris Hyer of Eugene, Oregon.

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2018.03.07
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Posted by Norman P on 03/07/2018