Three buckles, tan, and almost to the knee, the boots Ronald Reagan wore for decades were made in Omaha by the family run Dehler Company.
Symbolizing a fallen warrior, a pair of Dehler boots was placed backward in the stirrups of a riderless horse that walked behind the horse-drawn wagon carrying Reagan's casket to the capitol Wednesday.
80 year old Donavan Ketzler is now retired from the company founded in Kansas in 1885.
He said Reagan had worn Dehler boots since his days as a reserve cavalryman at Fort Des Moines in Iowa during the 1930s.
Over the years, Dehler made about ten pair of boots for Reagan.
But Ketzler said the former president isn't the Omaha Company's only famous buyer. On the company's long roster of distinguished customers is President Dwight D Eisenhower, General George Patton and NASA.
Ketzler said he was proud that his company's boots were part of Reagan's funeral ceremonies.
Ketzler described Reagan as a gentleman and a friend.
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