Milton Feinerman, 87; Former Banking Regulator

Milton Feinerman, former president of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, which regulates savings and loan institutions in California, Arizona and Nevada, has died. He was 87.

Feinerman, who was also a practicing lawyer for many years, died June 23 in Los Angeles of melanoma.

As head of the Federal Home Loan Bank from 1978 to 1983, Feinerman was responsible for overseeing 190 S&Ls; in the three-state area during a period of wide diversification in home financing. He worked to assist the traditional S&L; industry to provide low-cost real estate loans to minorities and the underprivileged.

Feinerman was well-trained for his role of keeping S&Ls; in compliance with rules and regulations when many were failing. As a lawyer, he had specialized in corporate finance, real estate and labor-management relations and was frequently asked to investigate ailing savings and loan groups.

He spent 15 years, from 1963 until 1978, as head of what was then the Westdale Savings & Loan Assn., which he first served as an attorney.

Born March 5, 1918, in New York City, Feinerman came west to attend Los Angeles City College and UCLA, interrupting his studies to serve as an Army sergeant during World War II.

Certified as a psychiatric social worker, he took a state job in vocational rehabilitation to pay his way through Loyola Law School.

Feinerman served on the regional board of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith and the advisory board to the UCLA Graduate School of Business and helped raise funds for Loyola Law School. He also was on the board of the Portals House, a group volunteering vocational counseling and placement services for veterans discharged from psychiatric hospitals.

Feinerman is survived by his wife, Ruth; three children, Nancy, Lynn and Neal; a brother, retired appellate court Justice Robert Feinerman; and a grandson.

Services will be private. The family has asked that, instead of flowers, memorial donations be made to a charity of the donor’s choice.