Obituary: Howard Leon Feinsand

Howard Leon Feinsand, a respected attorney, business executive, real estate investor, and devoted leader of Atlanta’s arts and Jewish communities, died at the age of 78.

A native New Yorker, Howard graduated from Temple University and St. John’s University School of Law. He began his career practicing law in New York City, where he spent nearly two decades before moving into senior positions in finance and corporate real estate. Over the course of a distinguished career, he held leadership roles with GE Capital Aviation Services and Citicorp North America, founded the investment firm Choir Capital Ltd., and served as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Duke Realty Corporation.

Howard’s work with Duke Realty brought him and his wife, Ellen, to Atlanta in 1999. Atlanta became not simply their home, but a community to which Howard devoted an extraordinary amount of his time, energy, and talent.

Soon after arriving, Howard became deeply involved with the Alliance Theatre and the Woodruff Arts Center. He eventually served as chairman of the board of the Alliance Theatre and as vice chairman and finance committee chairman of the Woodruff Arts Center, along with numerous other leadership roles. He remained a lifetime director of the Alliance Theatre.

Howard was equally committed to Atlanta’s Jewish community. He served as chairman of the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta and later as a lifetime trustee. He also served as president of The Standard Club. Together, Howard and Ellen generously supported organizations devoted to the arts, Jewish life, education and the needs of others throughout their community.

Those commitments reflected something fundamental about Howard. For all of his professional accomplishments, he believed deeply in institutions, community, and the responsibility of those who had been fortunate in life to help others. In writing about his service to Atlanta’s Jewish community, Howard spoke of the responsibility to care for one another “from one generation to the next.” It was a principle he practiced throughout his life.

Howard possessed an extraordinary intellect and was, more often than not, the smartest person in the room. Yet, intelligence alone did not define him. He was generous, dignified and possessed of a wonderfully dry sense of humor. He carried himself with an understated confidence and treated both his personal and professional responsibilities with seriousness and integrity. Those who knew him best knew something more: Howard was, quite simply, the most honorable of men.

After retiring from Duke Realty, Howard remained active in business, real estate investment, and advisory work while devoting increasing time to the civic and charitable institutions that had become such an important part of his life.

Howard was predeceased by his parents, Abe and Annette Feinsand. He is survived by his beloved wife, Ellen; his son, Mark Feinsand and Mark’s wife, Dena; his grandsons, Zack and Ryan; his stepdaughter, Wendi Cohen; his sister, Ellen Feinsand; and his goddaughter, Meredith Davis.

Howard’s life was one of accomplishment and service, but those closest to him will remember something greater than the positions he held or the institutions he helped lead. They will remember his intelligence and wit, his generosity and dignity, his loyalty to the people and causes he cared about, and the quiet integrity with which he lived his life. His was a life of consequence, lived with honor.

A graveside funeral was held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, at Arlington Memorial Park in Sandy Springs, Ga., with Rabbi Peter Berg of The Temple officiating. Shiva was held at the home of Travis Reed and Michael Kriethe.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made to The Temple and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.