Milton Fine
FINE: Milton Fine, on Wednesday, March 27, 2019, Milton Fine, beloved husband of Sheila Reicher Fine, passed away at the age of 92 surrounded by family after a brief illness. Loving father of Carolyn Fine Friedman (Jerry) of Newton, Mass.; Sibyl Fine King of Poole Dorset, England; and David J. Fine (Rachel) of Weston, Mass. Grandfather of Rose Friedman, Daniel King, Ari Fine, Ryan King, Nina Friedman, Sophia Friedman, Benjamin Fine, Adam Fine and Alice King. Stepfather to Pam Wein Levy (Michael) of Pittsburgh, Howard Reicher (Donna) of Pittsburgh, Jan Reicher (Alain Bismuth) of San Francisco, Calif.; and step-grandfather to Joshua Wein (Abby), Zachary Wein, Max Levy, Benjamin Reicher, Adi Alouf and Alexandra Alouf. Son of the late Samuel Fine and Ida (Krimsky) Fine. Brother of Ethel Christin of Palm City, Fla., and the late Sara Fine Patz and Harry Fine; also survived by many nieces and nephews. He attended Taylor Allderdice High School. He often credited his education to the hours he spent reading at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, where he developed a love for literature. He enlisted and deployed to France in World War II. There, he was promoted to sergeant at the age of 19, an achievement that — as he would one day tell the Wall Street Journal — eclipsed even those of his business career. Upon returning to Pittsburgh in 1946, he enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh and completed his undergraduate degree and received his Juris Doctorate in less than four years. He practiced law throughout the 1950s, gradually entering into business ventures, including real estate. He is known as a self-made entrepreneur who earned an international reputation as one of the outstanding leaders of the hospitality industry. Beginning with one motel in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1960, he and Edward A. Perlow co-founded and grew Interstate Hotels Corporation (IHC) into the largest hotel management company in the world with hotels under management throughout the United States, Canada, U.S. Caribbean and Russia. Following the sale of IHC in 1998, he formed FFC Capital with the Fine family and a select group of senior executives from Interstate for the purpose of investment management and the acquisition and development of real estate. He became a respected art collector and developed a passion for contemporary art, forging close relationships with artists and museum curators. In the early 1980s, he became a trustee of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, where he helped revitalize the Carnegie International — the nation’s oldest exhibition of global contemporary art. In addition to becoming chairman of the CMA board, he was also a founder of The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, where a curatorial position bears his name. A resident of Palm Beach, Fla., he was also on the boards of Wyndham International Hotel Company, the Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach, the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh and the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York. In 2007, he and his wife, Sheila, established The Fine Foundation, which supports projects in arts and culture, Jewish life, and science and medicine, primarily in his hometown of Pittsburgh. Services at Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Avenue, (at Morewood) on Friday, March 29, 2019, at 1 p.m. Visitation at Rodef Shalom one and one-half hour prior to services, (11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.). Interment West View Cemetery of Rodef Shalom Congregation. Contributions may be made to the charity of your choice or UPMC Family Hospice, 50 Moffett Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15243 or Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, 2000 Technology Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. schugar.com
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