PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island — Larry A. Liebenow, the former President & CEO of Quaker Fabrics Corp., died suddenly May 23 at the Miriam Hospital in Providence, RI. Larry A. Leibenow

He was the husband of Kathleen (Bendix) Liebenow. He was born in Hillsboro, OR, son of the late John and Esther (Swope) Liebenow. He was a Providence resident since 1990. 

He led Quaker Fabric Corporation, a publicly traded company and the world’s largest producer of upholstery fabrics with sales over $300 million at one time and one of Fall River, Massachusetts’ largest employers for many years. 

Quaker Fabrics went bankrupt in 2007. That marked the end of the Liebenow era at the mill. He was one of three original partners in the Quaker operation. Only one, Duncan Whitehead, is still alive and working in the yarn industry.

The other partner was Anthony Degomes, a soft spoken and hard working textiles industry innovator who passed away in 2002 after a long illness at 70.

He originally joined with Larry Liebenow and Duncan Whitehead as one of the three principals of Nortex International a yarn manufacturer based in Mexico in the late 70’s. This company became the basis of their purchase of Quaker Fabrics Corp. in the 1980’s. Under Liebenow, Whitehead and Degomes’ stewardship, Quaker eventually grew to be the largest mill in the world, a publicly traded company with sales at one point in excess of $300 million.

Liebenow started his career at Dalmaine Siderca in Argentina followed by stints at yarn makers Pliana in Mexico and Nortex in Philadelphia and North Carolina. 

Larry was a graduate of Willamette University in Salem OR and received an MBA from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. He was a dedicated member of the board of the US Chamber of Commerce and the National Endowment for Democracy. 

Besides his wife, he leaves three daughters: Danika Miskelly and her husband Rob of Berkeley Heights, NJ, Anna Petra Liebenow of Providence and Valeska Martin and her husband Erik of Durham, ME, and three grandchildren: Eleanor, Elliott and Theodore. He was the brother of the late Ernest Liebenow. A funeral service was held May 26 at the Redwood Chapel at Swan Point Cemetery Blackstone Blvd., Providence. Burial followed. 

Donations in his memory may be made to Lutheran World Relief, Box 17061, Baltimore, MD 21297-1061. 

(Parts of this obituary were first published in The Providence Journal on May 23, 2013.)