TULSA, Oklahoma — Harvey Nudelman, President of Fabricut Inc., a 45 year employee of the company, passed away Friday, evening, October 18 after succumbing to a long fought battle with lung cancer.

He was 74 years old.

A memorial service was held in Tulsa October 27 for all of his friends who came to pay their last respects.  

Harvey began his textile career in Chicago in 1961 as a salesman for Tempo Fabrics and later the owner of Westport Fabrics in Kansas City. In 1968, he joined Fabricut Inc. as vice president of sales and the following year launched its hospitality division, Fabricut Contract; Harvey was then promoted to President of Fabricut Inc. in 1978. He helped with the purchase of Lazarus Fabrics in 1980 to further

Fabricut Contract’s place and product offering in the hospitality industry; not long after, S. Harris Contract launched. 

He was considered a legend in the contract industry by all who knew him. “He was one of the great optimists of our industry,” said longtime friend, Roger Thomas, Executive Vice President of Wynn Hotels.

“He was always about the excitement of the next project,” Thomas once said. 

David Finer, CEO of Fabricut said “Harvey mentored hundreds of sales people; people who entered sales ranks wanted to be like Harvey.”

“Harvey raised the bar for the industry,” said his friend Darci Sassen. “He was a cool guy who does what he says he’s going to do,” said Matt DeShantz, who worked closely with Harvey at Fabricut.  

Jay Dash, a contract consultant who knew Harvey for almost 40 years said “he was a true gentlemen in both his private and business life.  I saw him often in recent years as he was my neighbor in Las Vegas.”   

“He was the first vendor to offer a scholarship to the industry,” said Anita Degen of NEWH, (Network of Executive Women in Hospitality). He was a resident of Lake Las Vegas, NV. He leaves a wife, Laura; a son Kenneth and a daughter Jennifer. Wife Laura once said that Harvey was a great husband and made her laugh a lot. For daughter Jennifer, “dad was my role model,” she once said.

Nudelman was honored as NEWH, Inc.’s ‘Icon of Industry Award’ in 2011. “He was hugely helpful to NEWH over the years. He was very candid and knew when to leave the party,” an NEWH spokesman said.

“He was young at heart and always hung out with the nice sales women of Fabricut,” an industry publisher said. “He was a shrewd negotiator and very proud of his job.”

Note: Comments for this article were taken from the audio portion of a film ;produced by NEWH for Harvey Nudelman’s ICON of the Year Award in 2011.