LEWISTON — For two years, Deb St. Hilaire planned her husband’s new company in secret.

Marc St. Hilaire worked for a local glass company with no dream of going out on his own, but Deb was convinced he’d be great at it. She drew up a business plan, paid off bills and set aside money. She subtly quizzed him on start-up details.

“We’d play the what-if game: What would it take to pull it off?” she said. “He had no idea I had an agenda.”

When Deb surprised him with the groundwork to launch Quality Glass eight years ago, Marc went for it.

“He showed profit in his first year; he superseded all his expectations,” she said.

Business was good. He was happy.

When Marc died suddenly last month, Deb St. Hilaire found herself the owner of a glass company.

She called a meeting with his managers the same day, Nov. 17. Quality Glass would go on. All eight employees still had jobs. She’d learn whatever she had to learn.

Deb said she spent the last month asking for signs and she got them.

“I have complete peace he’s still got my back,” she said.

Deb and Marc started dating when she was a senior at St. Dom’s. They got married when she was 20.

“If I knew how good I was going to have it, I would have worn my sneakers down that aisle and ran like hell,” said Deb, now 48. “I was crazy about that man.”

They settled in Lewiston and raised two daughters. Marc was supportive of her sales job with Mary Kay, which helped fund Quality Glass’s launch, and he cheered her on again four years ago when Deb founded Mend-A-Body Solutions, a healthy living company.

He had been self-taught in the glass business and enjoyed a challenge.

“I’ve been hearing all these stories,” Deb said.

One construction company told her Marc was the only person allowed to submit hand-drawn renderings with his bids.

“Everybody else could only do it in CAD,” she said. “‘We put up with it because he was so good at what he did.’ His reputation trumped it.”

He died at age 50 of a sudden cardiac arrest while playing football as his family watched. Marc had been healthy, weighing only 2 pounds more than when they’d gotten married.

“(He) just got a bad deal,” Deb said.

By chance, while estate planning for her elderly father, they’d talked about that “what if” just the week before.

“He just finished his highest profit year, his highest year in sales,” Deb said. “He said, ‘You would be crazy if you sold it or let it go.’ So what would I do? He said, ‘You know what, I’m not worried.'”

During a long car ride, Marc gave her a breakdown on each employee and their skill set.

“He just had this complete confidence that whatever happened, we’d be fine,” Deb said.

And so far, it has been.

“It’s been like miracles raining down,” Deb said. “The sorrow is there, teamed up with the sense of appreciation of life.”

His death has drawn the already close family even closer. One daughter has taken on more of Mend-A-Body. Deb is splitting her time between the two companies.

“We were healthy competitive,” she said. “I have a plan and the plan is to blow away what was his best year.”

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