Pat Reese's Mentor and Friend from 1970 to 1990

Noah was born in New York in 1909. His oldest brother, Morris and sister, Esther were born in Europe before the family imigrated to the United States. Noah's mother died when he was young, and he lived for seven years in an orphanage in New York City.

Noah learned the upholstery trade from master craftsman, and he himself became a master craftsman. As an adult, Noah was married and he and his wife had two children. In 1947, the family moved from New York City to Phoenix Arizona due to their son Dan's asthma. It was in Pheonix where the children's mother passed away.

Noah eventually met Ethel and they were married on New Years Eve of 1953. Noah, Ethel, and his two children moved to Alberquerque New Mexico in 1954, then five to six months later they moved to Carlsbad, New Mexico. In 1956, Noah and family moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where they settled on the south side of town on tree-lined College Avenue. He lived in the same house until he left in 1990. 

When Pat met Noah she was a decorator for Sears department store, and Noah was the contractor who made custom slipcovers for several stores in town. Pat asked Noah to teach her his trade, and he agreed.

After four years Pat learned enough to become Noah's partner, and they formed a company they called Bazer & Reese. In a short time their reputation had spread to nearby Dallas, Texas, and Bazer & Reese became popular with showrooms in the design district and the people who traded there. 

Eventually Bazer & Reese work was pictured in several prestigious home decor magazines, including Architectural Digest, Texas Homes and Dallas-Fort Worth Home & Gardens. Everybody who met Noah loved and respected him.

Noah was honest and fair. He was a master craftsman, a former upholsterer who made custom slipcovers for furniture.

1974

This was the year Noah made Pat his partner in the slipcover shop. Before that Pat was a decorator, and a seamstress for four years. Noah loved mathematics, and playing the violin. On his days off he went fishing, sometimes with a "fishing buddy" like the local druggist Frank Hamra.

Noah's wife Ethel was a great cook, and a good friend also. Once a week Pat would join Noah and Ethel for lunch, when Ethel would make a special lunch. The shop was in a corner shop four doors down from Noah and Ethel's home.

1990

After having lost Ethel and living alone for three years, Noah sold his home to Pat's eldest daughter, Anne, and sold his shop to Pat. Noah then moved to Boca Raton, Florida and remarried.

Pat has stayed in the business to this day, although the location has changed, the standards and the traditions Pat learned from Noah have not changed. When Pat trains a new slipcover maker, the traditions go with the training.

Noah had a special "shop mark" that was sewn into each cover, so that anyone who knew the special mark could always tell that the cover came from his and Pat's shop. This has been traditional for European craftsmen since the Middle Ages.

This photo was made in the mid-1970's, when Westgate Fabrics moved their operation from Forest Park Drive in Fort Worth to 1000 Fountain Parkway, in Grand Prairie, where they are still located. Noah and Pat were invited to their grand opening celebration.