Anthony Degomes Dies at 70
February 29, 2008
NEW YORK, New York—Anthony Degomes, a soft spoken and hard working textiles industry innovator passed away Monday, Feb. 25 after a long illness. He was 70.
A memorial service was held by his family and close friends in Ansonia, Connecticut on February 28.
Degomes was born from humble origins in the small town of Pernambuco, Brazil.
He joined with Larry Liebenow and Duncan Whitehead as one of 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.
Degomes retired from Quaker in April, 2002 and sold out his interests to his other two partners. At the time of his retirement, he was vice president of new product development and helped launch Quaker into the contract fabrics arena. Degomes was a textiles industry consultant since he left Quaker.
Although he sold out successfully in a business (Quaker) which eventually went bankrupt in 2007, Degomes never changed his style of living. "His priority was his family and work; he loved both equally but his family always had the edge," according to his daughter Erika Degomes, 35, the only child of Tony and his wife Elisa.
"My father loved Italy and Brazil and travelled there frequently but he was definitely a world traveler," Erika added.
A memorial service was held by his family and close friends in Ansonia, Connecticut on February 28.
Degomes was born from humble origins in the small town of Pernambuco, Brazil.
He joined with Larry Liebenow and Duncan Whitehead as one of 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.
Degomes retired from Quaker in April, 2002 and sold out his interests to his other two partners. At the time of his retirement, he was vice president of new product development and helped launch Quaker into the contract fabrics arena. Degomes was a textiles industry consultant since he left Quaker.
Although he sold out successfully in a business (Quaker) which eventually went bankrupt in 2007, Degomes never changed his style of living. "His priority was his family and work; he loved both equally but his family always had the edge," according to his daughter Erika Degomes, 35, the only child of Tony and his wife Elisa.
"My father loved Italy and Brazil and travelled there frequently but he was definitely a world traveler," Erika added.
