I. Avrum Fingeret ’53

Deceased April 20, 2012

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In Memory

Surrounded by his family, Avrum “Avie” Fingeret passed away on April 20, 2012, at his home in Sterling, Va., from lung cancer diagnosed three years before. He was briefly survived by his wife, Marjorie “Betty” Fingeret, who died on May 22, 2012, a month later.

Avie was born and raised in Sewickley, Pa., a suburb of Pittsburgh, and attended the Peddie School, Class of 1949.  At Amherst, he was a member of the Theta Xi fraternity, majored in political science (Earl Latham and Ben Zeigler among his favorite professors) and was active in the news bureau and as manager of the track team. After Amherst, he studied law at the University of California Berkeley’s School of Law (Boalt Hall) and earned an LL.B. at Ohio Northern University’s College of Law in 1957. 

Avie began his career managing his family’s scrap metal business until the early 1970s when he made a career change to focus on his legal training.  He had a distinguished career of over 36 years of service as an attorney for the U.S. government—serving  in the Department of the Interior (Office of the Solicitor) from 1972 to 1979 and in the U.S. Department of Energy (Office of the General Counsel) from 1979 until he retired in August 2011 at the age of 80.

“He led a fulfilling life and loved spending time with his family,” says his daughter Lisa Milbank. “Over the course of his life, he traveled extensively and was always in search of good food, wine and new recipes to try.”

Avie and Betty leave behind an extended family of four children and five grandchildren. In a note to Vic Mahler ’53 before she died, Betty Fingeret noted that Avie had many, many fond memories of Amherst.

Philip W. Ransom Jr. ’53