Bruce Katz

1947 - 2022

Bruce Katz
February 17, 1947 - June 26, 2022
Bruce R. Katz, who revolutionized the shoe industry as the founder of The Rockport Shoe Company and the pinnacle of his career Samuel Hubbard Shoe Company, took the final step of his journey on June 26, 2022. He had suffered a head injury from a fall at his home in Mill Valley, California, according to his family.
Throughout his footwear career, Bruce applied the philosophy, "We make friends one pair at a time." As an avid hiker and outdoorsman, it was never enough to simply make shoes; Bruce continuously aspired to make shoes that emphasized function, with an insistence on using fine materials, European craftsmanship, and careful fit. Beyond his innovations in footwear, he also established an award-winning customer service department because he believed in truly listening to his customers.
Bruce was born in Newton, Massachusetts on February 17, 1947. He was the third generation of a family shoemaking legacy that began with his grandfather Samuel J. Katz, who founded the first Hubbard Shoe Company in 1930, and his father Saul L. Katz who was the co-founder with Bruce of The Rockport Company. As a child, Bruce was fascinated with science, technology and "how things work" and went on to study Engineering Physics at Cornell University. He applied his engineering expertise to all his undertakings and when it came to shoemaking, he would always say, "If your feet had an engineering degree, these are the shoes they would make!"
His career in the footwear industry spanned over 50 years. Bruce believed the shoe is a person's most important piece of apparel. It connects one to the earth and carries the body's entire weight, helping to support an active lifestyle. All shoes he crafted were made with one thought in mind, "Feet have feelings too," the headline of a prominent Rockport advertisement from the 1980's. With an eye for detail that only an engineer can have, Bruce approached shoemaking with precision, reinventing classic styles and reworking new ones until they met his exacting standards.
His largest entrepreneurial endeavor was the Rockport Shoe Company, which he cofounded with his father Saul in 1971 and which was an amazing partnership between father and son. Bruce learned the importance of comfortable shoes early on and he funneled this wisdom into Rockport's product line. "Bruce had the rare talent of seeing over the horizon and the skill set to produce just the right product," said Bob Infantino, VP of Merchandising at Rockport during Katz' tenure, who went on to become CEO of Clarks Companies North America and later CEO of the Rockport Group.
"He was a visionary on a grand scale but also found great enjoyment in every detail." Infantino added.
Rockport was the first shoe company to put lightweight, cushioned orthotic elements and athletic technology into traditional footwear. RocSports, as they were called, became a huge success and kicked off the development of a new category of footwear - walking shoes.
Yet Bruce did more than sell the shoes; he codified a new type of physical activity he named "Fitness Walking." Through comprehensive investments, he sponsored scientific research that created the Rockport Walking Test to lure nonathletic Americans into activity. "When the Test launched on Good Morning America, Rockport received a mountain of mail. I'll never forget that Bruce made us open every letter to learn from our new walking advocates," said Carol Cone, who partnered with Bruce to shape the fitness walking movement. "Together we made walking into real exercise. We then created the Rockport Walking Institute to share walking information in films, books-Fitness Walking, and Fitness Walking for Women-, special events and national partnerships, one with the YMCA." Cone added. With this extensive promotion, fitness walking became an accepted exercise and walking shoes became a $1 billion category at retail, with Rockport dominating sales.
This success led to the sale of Rockport to Reebok in 1986.
At that time Bruce had the chance to build the sailboat of his dreams. He supervised every aspect of the yacht's construction, working with the Huisman Shipyard in the Netherlands and interior designer Pieter Beeldsnijder. The 143-foot Juliet was named one of the seven greatest yachts of all time by Fortune Magazine in 2009.
For the next 15 years Bruce explored the world by sea, while also running multiple software and internet ventures. One of these ventures was The WELL online community. In 1994, Bruce acquired the company that had been a co-venture between Larry Brilliant's NETI Corp and Stewart Brand's Point Foundation. While the WELL community remained independent, Bruce provided new infrastructure-the first Sparc web servers-and helped transition The WELL to the newly emerging worldwide web. The WELL became the first online service to offer its members direct self-publishing on the web, the prototype of what became known as blogs. Its spinoff, Well Engaged, offered discussion services (as one of the first SAS companies) to many media and other large companies as discussion areas first emerged as an important part of websites.
He joined his friends Mel and Patricia Ziegler and Bill Rosensweig to help create The Republic of Tea, an homage to tea-drinking. Rosewood Stone Group, his venture company, was an early investor in match.com, egreetings network, evite.com and other emerging web service companies. Bruce saw the future and participated to the fullest.
While Bruce became widely known as an entrepreneur, at heart he was a philanthropist. Over the years he was an avid supporter of many environmental, social justice, and progressive political causes and arts organizations, including the Mill Valley Film Festival.
In 1994 the Rosewood Stone Group provided early seed capital for the creation of Business for Social Responsibility, a global nonprofit organization that works with its network of more than 250 member companies to build a just and sustainable world.
Team building was also a keen area of interest for Bruce where he applied his characteristic love of innovation. He created Camp Rockport, seen as one of the earliest corporate off-site gatherings, lauded by Time magazine as a breakthrough idea in organizational development.
In 2013, Bruce returned to his first business love, shoemaking, launching the Samuel Hubbard Shoe Company, when he was unable to find any shoes that he loved as much as his RocSports. By continuing to employ European craftsmanship, premium European leathers, and new materials and techniques in the Hubbard product line, he was able to achieve his goal of making "shoes that people love."
"Working with Bruce over the past six years has been a continual master class in shoemaking," said Noah Wheeler, CEO of Samuel Hubbard. "While we are heartbroken to lose him, our team will continue Bruce's extraordinary shoemaking legacy. The upcoming introduction of the Performance Walker is the ultimate shoe Bruce dreamed of. It will honor his genius and is a comforting reminder that he is still on his journey with us," Noah continued.
Bruce Richard Katz is survived by his wife, Dasa, their only child Lee, brother Roger Katz, sister-in-law Karolynn Flynn and their children Abbi Hunter and Connor Katz.
Plans for a celebration of life will be announced at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, please take a long walk with someone you love. And talk with them about living life to its fullest.