Former bank exec Gregor dies

Tuesday, June 1, 1999 | 11:26 a.m.

Ray J. Gregor, former chief executive officer of First Western Savings Association, died Friday at the age of 60.

Gregor had moved to Las Vegas at the age of 33 to serve as assistant to president at First Western. Four years later he became the youngest person ever to be named president of the company. In 1987 he became CEO.

Gregor was born Aug. 31, 1938, in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from Dyke and Spencerian Business College in Cleveland then spent two years in the Army before beginning his savings and loan career as assistant to the auditor at Second Federal Savings and Loan in Cleveland.

By the age of 26, Gregor was auditor for the company. Shortly after he became vice president in charge of operations -- a position he left to come to Las Vegas, his wife Marilyn Gregor said.

Gregor retired from First Western in 1991 after 20 years when negotiations for the company to be bought out fell through, Marilyn Gregor said. The company had been on the market for one year.

Gregor spent his retirement overseeing the financial end of various apartment complexes he had invested in.

"He loved his work," Marilyn Gregor said.

He also served as president of the Savings and Loan League of Nevada, director of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board of San Francisco and was a former member of the Las Vegas Rotary Club.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by one daughter, Lisa Gregor of San Diego; two sons, Paul Gregor of Los Angeles and Michael Gregor of San Francisco; his mother, Mary Gregor of Las Vegas; and one brother, Ken Gregor of Atlanta.

Visitation will be 3-7 p.m. today at Davis Paradise Valley Funeral Home, 6200 S. Eastern Ave. A memorial service will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Viator Catholic Church, 2461 E. Flamingo Road. Burial will be at Paradise Memorial Gardens.

The family requests donations to the Leukemia Society of America or to local blood banks.