He opened his Talbragar street shoe repair shop in 1979. Back then, the foot traffic in his store was so high, Mr Letfallah would open at six in the morning and leave work just before nine some nights. He even had a helper come in to lend a hand in the afternoons.

"Lot of work back then, but today, it's a lot of throwaways," Mr Letfallah said.

The 78-year-old is referring to shoes that cost more to fix than buy. Shoes so poorly made that nothing could save them.

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Mr Letfallah recalls his father, a master shoemaker, who would make shoes from scratch. He owned all the tools, different types of lasts (model of a foot) and equipment, he would only need measurements.

"Anything you want, sandals, shoes, boots, whatever you like, he used to make in Lebanon," he said.

When Mr Letfallah came to Dubbo with his family in 1963, his father would make handmade shoes for locals.

"When we came here, one bloke, he had one leg that was shorter than the other. [My father] made boots for him," he said. "I never learned that, I wish I did... good money in it."

Before Dubbo, Mr Letfallah's family lived in Sydney where, as a young boy, he had held a variety of jobs before becoming a valued shoe repairer.

"I had a street job in Sydney, first job. A welder wanted help to make grills for a school. He needed someone to work and [gestures lips zipping]," he said.

"And I couldn't speak English! Only 'Hello, how are you, good, thank you'."

Mr Letfallah said it worked out for the best.

He had also worked in a factory that manufactured tissues, and toilet paper. Then, he worked with German people, making locks for handbags and wallets. He also frequented the employment offices in Sydney, now known as CentreLink.

Soon after that, his family came to Dubbo and bought a shop from a man who had just become bankrupt. They opened a shoe repair shop next-door to where Mr Letfallah's shop stands now.

He has stayed in Dubbo since then. He lives with his wife, they have four children and nine grandchildren. He says he has loved life here.

"When I came to Dubbo... it used to be 8,000, 10,000 people in those days,' Mr Letfallah said. "It was beautiful, you trust everybody. You get on well with people and that sort of thing."

He has only been back to Lebanon once in the last 44 years. As for the Lebanese community in Dubbo, it's made up of half a dozen families.

"Seven families in Dubbo. We visit each other, sometimes when we go to church on Sunday, we meet at the Egyptian Church in west Dubbo," he said.

Seeing Mr Letfallah repairing shoes for the last 60 years, his godson often calls the profession old-fashioned. But his customers believe otherwise.

"They're all pleased with what I do for them. A lot of them hope I don't retire soon, because what I do for people, no one can do it," he said.

"[Repairing shoes] takes a long time to do... but you can't charge a lot of money, you got to be nice."

Note - During the interview alone, four customers walked in. Two came to collect their newly fixed old boots and seemed very happy with the cobbler's handiwork. One came in to ask if he could fix a heel, and he replied 'you want them back today?'. Another one had brought two pairs of sandals to fix. She walked around the block to test out the repairs, and came back protesting over shoe bites.