Published: September 11, 2006 03:12 pm            

Carpet industry pioneer mourned

Alan Lorberbaum may be remembered to some as co-founder of Aladdin Mills, Inc. in Dalton, but he is more fondly remembered by former employees and residents for his “outpouring love” for people in the community.

Lorberbaum, 82, originally of New York City, died Saturday at his home in Boca Raton, Fla. where he retired from Dalton. His wife Shirley, the other co-founder of Aladdin, died in 1999.

“He and his late wife Shirley were such enthusiastic supporters of the community,” said Dalton State College president Jim Burran.

The Lorberbaums were instrumental in opening Dalton Junior College, now Dalton State College, Burran said.

The liberal arts building on campus is named for Alan and Shirley Lorberbaum because of their dedication to the college and the Dalton State College Foundation, which a private entity that raises money for the college, Burran said.

Mark Pace, former editor of The Daily Citizen, says Lorberbaum “kept his money in his community” by investing in things such as education.

“To me, he and his wife both were outpouring their love on this community,” Pace said. “To be really successful, you have to give people a part of yourself a paycheck can’t buy.”

Earnest Head Jr., who worked at Aladdin for 42 years until he retired in 1999, says working under Lorberbaum was “like working under a captain, a concerned leader.”

“He was concerned about his employees as much as his own family,” Head said.

He remembers many times Lorberbaum loaned him money for a down payment and mortgage payments.

“The later on he marked off the rest of it as paid even though I didn’t have it all paid,” Head said.

Charlene Lawless worked at Aladdin from 1963 to 1976 as a “PBX” — Private Business eXchange — phone operator.

“He was one of the greatest bosses there ever was,” Lawless said of Lorberbaum. “He was fair to his employees. We were more like a family than anything else.”

Lorberbaum helped care for employees and their families when there was a death in the family or “an accident,” Lawless said.

Alan and Shirley Lorberbaum were inducted into the Northwest Georgia Business Hall of Fame in April of this year. Alan Lorberbaum was considered by some a mechanical acumen.

“We would work eight hours a day in the office, and then after hours, we would go out in the plant and design things to improve productivity,” Head, a maintainence engineer, said. They redesigned patters and machines.

“He was a real designing engineer,” Head said. “We might work all night on one project. It was very exciting. Never a dull moment.

“He kept things in front of me so that I would not have a dull moment or slack time.”

Aladdin merged with Mohawk Industries in 1994 where Lorberbaum served on the board of directors.

The funeral service will be Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Love Funeral Home with the Rabbi Elaine Schnee officiating. Burial will be in Whitfield Memorial Gardens.

The family will receive friends Tuesday from 1 to 3 p.m. at Love Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers commemorative contributions may be made to Dalton State College Foundation, 650 College Drive, Dalton, GA 30720.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.