CORNELIUS, North Carolina — Thomas Werner Hilb, 66, a well-liked veteran textile entrepreneur with 40 years in the business, finally succombed to cancer December 17, after battling the illness for several years. He was born in Cincinnati, OH January 23, 1950. Services were held at James Funeral Home in Huntersville, NC. December 20. In lieu of flowers, his family asks that donations be made to the American Cancer Society. Hilb will be most remembered for his honesty, integrity and friendship to many in the home textiles world. He was very personable and a friend and mentor to many suppliers and competitors worldwide, especially in the USA, Turkey and China. In spite of his intense work ethic and heavy travel schedule, he found the time to love his family as a proud father and grandfather. Tom is survived by three daughters Katherine, Molly and Anne and two grandchildren, Charlotte and Lilly. Hilb’s biggest career success came with Heritage House Fabrics, a company he founded in 2003 as a drapery fabrics importer and distributor. He built it into a $20 million plus business which continues today under different ownership. Hilb sold the company in January, 2013 but stayed on for a time as a consultant. Until his last days, Hilb was enthusiastic about the textiles industry and kept in touch with many colleagues advising them on the running of their business and helping them in the marketplace if he could. He did this even though his energy was failing and caused him to move back to Cornelius, NC after selling his home in Boca Raton. He found traveling back and forth difficult, he said at the time. Hilb was a veteran fabric man with a sharp eye for sourcing product at the right price and also the rare skill for making successful acquisitions, namely, ITC (2004), Belle Fabrics (2007) and Dana Mills (2011), the three companies he brought into the Heritage family under his reign in less than ten years. His acquisition strategy was always to continue the businesses he bought by producing running lines for existing customers. Hilb’s strength lay in his ability to make these smaller entrepreneurial niche companies prosper by supporting them financially and squeezing cost efficiencies out of the total structure. He consistently demonstrated his ability to make prudent purchases of textile assets and was successful in erecting a new state of the art warehouse in North Carolina to house his growing business. He once said that “we’re extremely well financed so a niche player could do well selling out and becoming a part of Heritage. We handle millions of yards of product with very little inventory shrinkage. We wring out efficiencies from warehousing and distribution.” Prior to starting Heritage, he was an executive with Richloom and Western Textiles, a converter no longer in business but who’s name continues as a division of P/Kaufmann, Inc. Hilb learned the textiles business from his father, Werner Hilb who was a successful wholesaler in the Chicago, Ill. area. In better days, Hilb loved to play golf and go to Las Vegas with his buddies. For awhile, he ran a golf day at the Lake Norman Country Club near Charlotte, NC. for his suppliers and customers. Thomas Hilb will be missed by his many friends.