{"id":538232,"date":"2026-07-22T07:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T07:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/538232\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T07:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T07:57:11","slug":"prominent-masterton-businesswoman-willow-shoes-founder-georgie-falloon-dies-of-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/538232\/","title":{"rendered":"Prominent Masterton businesswoman, Willow Shoes founder Georgie Falloon, dies of cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GeorgieGeorgie Falloon photographed in 2013, after she became a finalist for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.<\/p>\n

In March 2025, Georgie was diagnosed with sarcoma, a rare type of cancer that develops in the body\u2019s connective and supportive tissues. <\/p>\n

Her husband, Jamie Falloon, said she received treatment in Auckland Hospital and in Australia, before being medically evacuated back to New Zealand and brought home with the help of Wellington and Masterton Hospital staff. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe knew what was coming but she never let it consume her,\u201d Jamie told the Herald.<\/p>\n

She died on Sunday in her sleep after a \u201cdetermined\u201d fight with cancer, her obituary read. <\/p>\n

Jamie said his wife was on the board of Dress for Success, a charity that helps people prepare for employment, and donated many of her shoes to them. <\/p>\n

She also created a Facebook page called Willow Glow, which allowed her customers to trade their older shoes to others who could not afford them. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe was one of those people who she never thought just about herself,\u201d Jamie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe loved the happiness and joy the shoes gave people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair were married for 26 years and Jamie said he would remember his wife as an \u201cincredible person\u201d and a \u201cdetermined businesswoman\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"GeorgieGeorgie Falloon’s husband Jamie Falloon pictured with their sons Joe, 9, left, and John, 6, right at Bowland’s in 2012.<\/p>\n

Georgie was a mother to three children and a friend to many, who would remember her for her \u201cbeautiful sunny attitude\u201d, her obituary read. <\/p>\n

\u201cRest now honey, you will be greatly missed by your loving family, and we will always hold you close to our hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Georgie was remembered as a lover of clothes and shoes. <\/p>\n

Parcels from online shopping orders she made before her death were still arriving on her doorstep, a statement from her family on the Willow Shoes website said. <\/p>\n

Running Willow Shoes and Redwood Clothing, Georgie\u2019s clothing business, was not a chore for her but a pleasure, it said. <\/p>\n

Georgie came from a farming background and her family owned prominent sheep and beef farm Bowland\u2019s in the Wairarapa region, north of Masterton. <\/p>\n

When she was not busy running Willow Shoes and being a mother to their three children, she was turning sheep on the farm and maintaining a big garden, Jamie said. <\/p>\n

As per Georgie\u2019s wishes, a private service was held for her by her family.<\/p>\n

A public memorial service to celebrate her will be held on November 7 at Bowland\u2019s. <\/p>\n

Janhavi Gosavi is a Wellington-based journalist for the New Zealand Herald who covers news in the capital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Georgie Falloon photographed in 2013, after she became a finalist for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,93586,2534,1656,49159,6179,7126,264939,12026,15124,1874,311,183151,89421,111,43,139,60398,69,1118,6791,15899,62328,3502,105534,102],"class_list":["post-538232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-businesswoman","tag-cancer","tag-company","tag-determined","tag-died","tag-dies","tag-falloon","tag-farmer","tag-fight","tag-found","tag-founder","tag-georgie","tag-masterton","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-niche","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-prominent","tag-shoe","tag-shoes","tag-success","tag-willow","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}