Donald Ward

As chief engineer at the Co-op Boot Factory in Heckmondwike in the early 1950s, he made a pair of lightweight boots every week for Matthews who, as he got older, needed them instead of the heavy ones of the time. Kangaroo leather was used which, while light was not durable, but extended Matthews’s career by several years.

In his spare time, Mr Ward also ran a sewing machine repair company in 1958, eventually winning a contract to supply sewn-up boot uppers for Puma.

He then met Derek Ibbotson, the Huddersfield world record holder at the mile, and they set up Mileta Sports, producing running and training shoes to the athlete’s design, and Mr Ward became chairman.

As the business grew, the company moved from small premises in Liversedge to Albion Street, Heckmondwike, then to Spen Vale Mills, Heckmondwike, where it is still based and his son Brian is now joint managing director.

Mr Ward, of Hartshead Moor, Cleckheaton, was born in Dewsbury, the eldest of four children whose father worked in a textile factory milling cloth. The family was poor, particularly when his father was laid off, and there wasn’t enough to eat.

Being a puny child he was sent to his grandparents most weekends to be fed, travelling on his own to Wakefield with a label attached to him telling the conductor where to put him off the tram.

He attended Boothroyd Lane Primary School passing his 11-plus, but he could not go to grammar school because the family could not afford the uniform and he was expected to leave school at 14 to supplement the family income. Instead he attended Victoria Central School, Dewsbury.

When he was 11, he worked as a butcher’s boy for a woman who thought he needed building up so cooked him part of whatever was left over.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, he joined the Messenger Corps based in Dewsbury. In his spare time he made crosses, photo frames and badges from Perspex salvaged from crashed bombers selling them to help the family income.

His first full time job was on a loom at JT & J Taylors, in Batley, with his Uncle Fred before becoming an apprentice millwright with Walshaw & Brookes, where he learned engineering and machinery repair.

He loved ballroom dancing and danced with Betty Boothroyd, later speaker of the House of Commons, at Dewsbury Town Hall where he met his wife Margaret when he was 16. They married in June 1950 and were together for more than 55 years.

In 1943, Mr Ward joined the Royal Engineers as a tradesman, modifying tanks for the D-Day landings. He also trained as a paratrooper and was on his way to Japan when the Atom bombs were dropped.

He also served in Alexandria – where he met King Farouk– and Palestine, rising to the rank of sergeant.

After the War as his business grew, Mr Ward invented the football bag with team logos printed on it and its popularity led to production expanding. The company also supplied the airline and promotional industry, becoming the biggest bag producer in Europe.

In the 1970s, the sports artist Paul Trevillion and Mr Ward were engaged by Leeds United to boost their image and they produced numbered sock tags which players signed and threw to the crowd after the games.

Mileta eventually took over TOG24 Outdoor Clothing employing thousands of local people.

As a consequence of his youngest son Graham suffering from cerebral palsy Mr Ward was president of the Dewsbury and District Spastics Society, a post he held for more than 50 years. He was also president of Spenborough and District Athletic Club for more than 20 years and inaugurated the Mileta 10 Road Race.

He loved Whitby and had a house there for more than 40 years where he spent most weekends and his wife spent the summers with grandchildren.

Mr Ward, who was predeceased by his wife and youngest son, is survived by three children, seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren.