Harvey NudelmanTULSA, OK.--  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.

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 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.  

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

A memorial service will be held in Tulsa Sunday, October 27 at 1 pm.  

Nudelman was honored as NEWH, Inc.'s Icon of Industry 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.

A service of remembrance will take place at Congregation B’nai Emunah (1719 S. Owasso Avenue, Tulsa, Okla.) on Sunday, October 27, 2013 at 1:00 p.m.

The Nudelman family has asked that charitable donations be made in Harvey’s name to:

American Cancer Society

1325 East Harmon Avenue

Las Vegas, Nevada 89119 (702) 798-6877

Heaven Can Wait Society

(Animal Rescue)

546 North Eastern Avenue, Suite 175

Las Vegas, Nevada 89101

(702) 227-555