By Alana Baranick
The Plain Dealer
Cleveland
Mayfield Heights - Of the many jobs George Kossoff held in his life, none satisfied his soul more than selling orthopedic shoes.
In the 1950s, he fitted customers who hobbled into the Cleveland Orthopedic store with shoes that could help them walk straighter and with less pain. Kossoff, who died June 13 at 92, spent evenings at nursing homes, measuring the feet of clients who couldn't get to the store.
"He was just pleased to be able to be helpful," said Bob Levine, a family friend. "I don't know whether he made any money on it, but he got psychic income. He made people feel good about themselves."
Kossoff had genuine empathy for folks with foot problems. He walked in pain since the 1930s, when he was pinned against the metal gate of an elevator by a pallet of boxes while working as a stockboy.
"He injured his leg," said his wife, Millie. "The doctor said he'd never walk."
Although drab, clunky, specially-fitted shoes could ease his pain, Kossoff preferred to wear colorful Italian-made patent-leather dress shoes.
"At one time, he was a very spiffy dresser," said his daughter, Claire Nash. "He got a little less discriminating about mixing plaids and stripes toward the end, but he did like to look sharp."
Kossoff couldn't wear classy clothes while pumping gas, cleaning car windshields and changing tires at the Rockwell Service Station at East 12th Street and Rockwell Avenue, which he co-owned in the late 1930s.
"He hated that job," Millie said. "It was tough, dirty ... When he came home, the kids were sleeping already. He didn't want to get near anyone until he took a shower."
Working conditions were better in the 1940s, when he owned Komar Sales and Service. He sold car accessories and such varying products as candy bars and new-fangled television sets with 10-inch screens.
"We had a TV set because he sold them in his store," said his daughter, Linda Kemmerer. "People would come in our house and watch TV."
By the early 1950s, he was happily selling shoes. But his seemingly perfect career ended after four years due to a dispute over whether to keep the business open on Saturdays. Kossoff favored staying open, citing the potential for increased sales. His boss staunchly disagreed.
Kossoff went from selling shoes to peddling fish at the Woodland East 55th Street Market. "Only fresh fish," his wife said. "Some of the times, they would still be moving."
He and his wife also ran a concession at Catalano's Supermarket on Mayfield Road, where they sold fried fish on Fridays. When business dropped off in the late 1960s, Kossoff went to work for the Cleveland Vending Co. He serviced vending machines until he was 69. Then he returned to Catalano's to work part time until he was 80.
Kossoff struggled to support his family and "never thought he gave us enough," said daughter Claire. "But looking back at my childhood, I can't think of anything we wanted that we didn't get ... Dancing lessons. Acting lessons. BBYO (B'nai B'rith Youth Organization). He always had money for us to do those things that were important to us."
The Kossoffs raised their kids in Cleveland Heights and South Euclid. After their youngest, Teri Alexander, graduated from high school, they lived in various apartments until moving into the Schnurmann House retirement center in Mayfield Heights.
In his latter years, Kossoff planned seniors' bus trips to such places as Amish country, Toronto and Washington, D.C. "We would rent a bus and fill it up with friends," Millie said.
One of those friends, Maury Feren, remembered Kossoff as a man who wanted seniors from his Jewish Community Center group "to spread their wings and do interesting things. George felt secure in himself and confident he could do anything with the group. He never worried about successes. He believed in the possibilities."
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