Ex-FHLBank Board Chief Dies

Preston Martin, who served as chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and was involved in the formation of Freddie Mac, died of heart disease May 30 in San Francisco at the age of 83, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.Mr. Martin was vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board from 1982 to 1986, and he founded PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. in the early 1970s after heading the FHLBank Board, the predecessor agency of the Federal Housing Finance Board. He was also instrumental in the creation of NeighborWorks America. "Preston Martin, at the helm of the Federal Home Loan Bank system in 1970, was ahead of his time in supporting community-based public-private partnerships as a viable approach to the revitalization of urban residential areas," said Ken Wade, chief executive officer of NeighborWorks. "In an era when conflict was more common than cooperation, Preston Martin helped propel NeighborWorks from very humble beginnings into a national housing and community development network."