Bootmaker
Eddie Kimmel
Eddie and Kathy Kimmel opened a dirt-road custom shop at 2080 County Road 304 in 1980. Texas Monthly 2002 said Eddie learned from Dan Trujillo and built old-style stout pairs with a heavier inner sole. He died on 15 July 2018. The family shop continues the name.
Why collectors care
Eddie Kimmel was a Comanche, Texas custom bootmaker whose dirt-road shop became one of the most productive small benches in the 2002 Texas Monthly list. Collectors meet later Kimmel Boot Company pairs that continue the family name after his death.
He belongs under Bootmakers. The living shop is a family continuation, not a factory SKU house.
Biography
The Comanche Funeral Home obituary records Eddie Kimmel, born 16 August 1949, died unexpectedly 15 July 2018, a bootmaker of 38 years, survived by wife Kathy of fifty years and children Justin and Jodie. Graveside services were at Indian Creek Cemetery in Comanche County.
The official Kimmel Boot Company site says Eddie and Kathy established the shop in 1980 at 2080 County Road 304, Comanche, down a dirt road, by appointment. Texas Monthly (June 2002) says he learned the trade from the late Dan Trujillo, another Comanche legend, and specialized in old-style boots that were a little stouter with a heavier inner sole. Period figures started at $550 with a three-month turn.
Texas Monthly named actresses Sandra Bullock and Priscilla Presley and producer Lynda Obst as clients. A later Texas Monthly art-of-the-boot note after his death added George Strait and said the crew dates from 1980. Those names are reputation, not pair certificates.
Known for
Comanche custom bench; Trujillo line; family shop after 2018