Paul Joseph Finn Sr., a former member of the management committee at AMBAC Indemnity Corp., died May 2 after a long illness. He was 80 years old.
"Paul was well-known and respected in the industry," Hans Hanf, the head of municipal markets at Build America Mutual and long-time friend of Finn's said. "He was a very warm and hospitable individual and a true gentleman of the business. The muni community really lost one of their best representatives with the passing of Paul. He was a larger-than-life muni person."
Before entering retirement about a decade ago, Finn served as senior vice president at AMBAC and was an active member and industry panelist of various professional financial organizations.
He was also part of the Shawnee Indian Group, a municipal group comprised of members from New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Membership is granted through invitation only. The group meets once a year on the Wednesday through Friday before Memorial Day weekend to play golf.
"There's an award in Paul's name for anyone who gets a hole-in-one. He was the first person to get a hole-in-one at this group," Hanf said.
Previously he was senior vice president and member of the board of directors at Dean Witter Reynolds and was both a partner and managing director at L.F. Rothchild Unterberg & Towbin.
He received his degree from Fordham University, before rising to the rank of first lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps.
Finn is survived by his wife, Laurie, his son, William, his daughter, Mary as well as his grandchildren.
A memorial service was held on May 6 at the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Short Hills, N.J., followed by a reception at the Baltusrol Golf Club.
Friends, family and public finance colleagues, who came to pay their respects, were encouraged to donate to the Paul J. Finn, Jr. Scholarship Foundation in lieu of giving flowers.
After entering retirement, Finn and his wife created the foundation to honor the memory of their son, champion wrestler Paul J. Finn Jr. The foundation supports a major high school wrestling tournament and presents deserving high school wrestlers with scholarships.
"He was very charitable. It was always fun to play golf and poker with him. He was the type of individual that you liked to be around," Hanf said. "He and his wife owned a beautiful place in Hilton Head, where they would invite various traders for 3 or 4 days. They went out of their way to show you a good time. I'm sure a lot of traders will remember sharing a good time with Paul and his wife at Hilton Head."
