Posted February 28, 2016
By Devin Steele (DSteele@eTextileCommunications.com)
VENTNOR, N.J. – Mary O’Rourke, one of the textile and apparel industry’s most respected consultants and insiders, died February 22 after a three-year battle with cancer. She was 62.
O’Rourke was president and CEO of O'Rourke Group Partners (ORG), a company she founded in 1999 and led to a preeminent position as one of the world's leading textile and apparel consulting group. Over the last 16 years, she and her team have counseled more than 650 blue-chip clients in 48 countries.
She spoke on numerous occasions to various textile associations. Her company was commissioned a few years ago by the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) to conduct an impact study on the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Peter Hegarty, a director of O'Rourke Group Partners since 2009, knew and collaborated with O’Rourke for many years.
“Mary had the unique ability to take an objective perspective of situations and problems that proved to be invaluable to ORG clients,” Hegarty said. “Her expertise in all aspects of the industry from fiber to fashion resulted in her counsel to be in demand industry wide. She maintained her position as the premiere textile consultant and will certainly be missed for this invaluable guidance and most certainly for her friendship to industry leaders and to me, personally.”
Roger Gilmartin, ORG director, said O’Rourke was a “unique visionary with a very special gift for communicating her ideas.”
“She loved our industry and the industry loved her,” Gilmartin said. “The many messages of love and support we and her family have received have two common themes: the respect for the breadth and depth of her knowledge and the real appreciation of her kindness and generosity of spirit. I watched her battle her illness with the same courage and commitment she brought to her clients. May she rest in peace.”
Consultant Mary O’Rourke was well respected in industry
Obituary
Mary O'Rourke (1953-2016)
Mary O'Rourke speaks about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) during the Southern Textile Association's 2013 Summer Marketing Forum in Belmont, N.C.
Vaughn Jordan, deputy director of Cotton Council International (CCI), fondly praised O’Rourke for her contributions to the industry.
“Collaborating with Mary O’Rourke has been a highlight of my career – starting in the late 1990s, helped guide one of the oldest industries in the world survive and thrive in the global marketplace,” Jordan said. “She was so generous with her wisdom – always positive, full of energy and encouraging. It is a huge loss for our industry, and we are all forever grateful.”
O’Rourke began her career at the retail end of the textile and apparel supply chain as a fabric buyer at Sears Roebuck. In 1978 she joined Werner Associates, at the time the world's leading textile consulting group. She brought a new focus and dimension to Werner's business and developed a strong marketing and strategy practice, which she led as executive vice president.
She is survived by her husband, Stephen Miller, daughter and son-in-law Maureen (nee Scannapieco) and August Leming, step-daughter and son-in-law Lauren (nee Miller) and Daniel Carney, stepson, Stephen Miller Jr., and grandson Jude Leming. She is also survived by five siblings and their families: William and Corky O’Rourke, Robert and Chris O’Rourke, Patricia and Carole O’Rourke, Dolores and AnthonyDelliColli, Margaret and Steve Blouin.
To read the full obituary, click here.
Source: George H. Wimberg funeral home and reporting.