Family History 

Murray’s Shoes has been an old-fashioned family tradition since 1875. Unlike the direction that many of today’s corporations have taken, Murray’s Shoes has stayed the course for over 131 years. It has been the Murray family’s commitment to bring to their community quality footwear and exceptional service.

Now, after more than a century, the family has taken service to the next level by adding a pedorthic facility within the shoe store. As pedorthists, our mission is to manage the cause of lower limb problems by developing a treatment plan involving footwear, orthotics, and physical therapy. During the course of treatment, our goal is to protect the lower limb from short and long term effects that would otherwise reduce mobility, now or in the future.

The Family 1875-1948

Adam Murray was born in 1843 of a farmers family. The Murrays’ primary source of income was raising sheep imported from England. As Adam’s life began to unfold, Adam migrated from Ohio to LeRoy, Illinois, where he began what was to become a long tradition in the retail business.

Adam joined forces with Dr. Wm. Buckworth, establishing both a medical office and a pharmacy with a dry goods, millinery, and shoe store. This store remained in business until 1912.

St. Elmo Murray, son of Adam, was born in 1871 and began working for his father at a very early age. This was true of most children in those days.

St. Elmo took over the store after his father’s death in 1901 and kept it open until 1912, when St. Elmo sold the store and opened the first full-line shoe store in Decatur, Illinois. Two years, later St. Elmo’s son Ralph, who was underage at the time, took the inurban train from Decatur to Clinton, Illinois and bought a shoe store. Ralph went back to St. Elmo and convinced him that the Clinton store would be a better investment than the Decatur store because of the Illinois Central railroad having a hub there. At the time, St. Elmo didn’t know Ralph had signed a contract for the purchase. This store remained open until 1985.

The Family 1948-Present

Del Murray, son of St. Elmo, was born in 1911. All through high school, Del worked for his father, coming in before and after school. After graduating from high school, Del worked for several companies before settling in with Curtis Candy Company. Following WWII, St. Elmo offered Del a job working for $35 a week. However, Del had a family to support, so he went back to work as a district manager for Curtis Candy Co.

In 1946, St. Elmo sold the store to Del and his brother-in-law. This partnership was short-lived, so Del bought a building across the street and in 1948 opened his own store, which remained open until 1990. During his career in the shoe business, Del opened nine more stores throughout Illinois. Upon his death in 1990, Del’s legacy was passed on to his two sons, Joe in Illinois and Jim in Colorado.

Jim, son of Del Murray, began working in the store at a very early age, which has been true of all the Murrays. Then, in 1983, Jim became a pioneer, like his great grandfather Adam, and moved west, settling in Colorado. After opening several stores throughout the Denver area, Jim opened his present store in 1991.

My dream, since 1971, has been to help people with their footwear needs and foot problems. This new store was just that beginning. First I opened a comfort casual shoe store with shoes that have extra support or accommodated arch supports. After establishing this market, I went to Northwestern University Medical School’s Prosthetic/Orthotic Center where I completed the required courses in Pedorthics. I sat for the boards and was certified as a Pedorthist by the Board for Certified Pedorthist (BCP). As a pedorthist I am now able to modify and fit footwear, and custom fit foot orthosis to alleviate foot problems caused by disease, congenital defect, overuse or injury.