Fernand Joseph St Germain

A 14-term Rhode Island congressman who was chairman of the House banking committee before the savings and loan crisis exploded, and who lost his seat after drawing attention for his ties to the industry he had helped deregulate. His wife, Rachel M. O’Neill, died in 1998. Besides Ms. Laurene Sorensen, he is survived by another daughter, Lisette Saint Germain, and a sister, Claire Velardi. A Representative from Rhode Island; born in Blackstone, Worcester County, Mass., January 9, 1928; attended parochial schools in Woonsocket, R.I.; graduated from Our Lady of Providence Seminary High School, 1945; graduated from Providence College, 1948; graduated from Boston University Law School, 1955; United States Army, 1949-1952; elected to the Rhode Island state house of representatives, 1952-1961; was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Rhode Island in 1956; elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-seventh and to the thirteen succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1961-January 3, 1989); chairman, Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs (Ninety-seventh through One Hundredth Congresses); unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the One Hundred First Congress in 1988; is a resident of Woonsocket, R.I.