Tilden Engelman

1938 - 2016

Tilden Straus "Denny" Engelman passed away at his home in Las Vegas on April 1, 2016 at the age of 77. Denny was born on October 25, 1938 to Bob and Mary Engelman in Chicago, the first of five children (Robert, Jr., John, Steve, and Mary). He grew up in Highland Park, IL and graduated from the Berkshire School ('57) in Sheffield, MA where he was captain of the skiing and tennis teams. Denny entered Dartmouth College with the class of 1961, and later received his MBA, with honors, from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in 1966. Returning to his native Chicago, he founded Engelman Securities, Inc. and built the business into a significant presence on the Midwest Stock Exchange. Engelman Securities was an institutional floor broker specializing in putting together buyers and sellers of large blocks of stock. In so doing it provided critical liquidity to the institutional trading market. (Engelman Securities' customers were the major brokerage houses like Goldman Sachs, Oppenheimer, Merrill Lynch, First Boston etc. - not retail customers nor Mutual Funds - and he had the opportunity to do business with the largest, but decided against it because it would result in his competing with his customers' customers). The business grew over the years to where Engelman Securities was responsible for over 50% of the daily volume on the Midwest Stock Exchange (the nation's second largest exchange). Denny was also on the Board of Governors of the Exchange and its vice-chairman for a number of years. Ultimately, the success of Engelman Securities over its almost 40 years of existence was attributable to the firm's ability to adjust and adapt to the radical changes that beset the brokerage business from the "old boy network" of the 1960's thru the deregulation of commissions in the 1970's, through the heyday of the merger and acquisition boom and arbitrage trading of the 1980's and the automation and birth of computerized trading in the 1990's. And the lynchpin to this success was the firm's reputation for honesty, integrity and fairness as it crossed multi-thousand shares blocks of stocks between the major brokerage houses of America. Denny was the father of five children; (Terri, Scott, Tom, Forrest, Trish) and three grandchildren; (Carson, Cooper and Elshu). He was a devoted father and grandfather who imparted his zest for life to his children and grandchildren. For the last eleven years, Denny was married to the love of his life, Gale. Denny had a magnetic personality that filled the room when he entered it. He was a loving father, devoted husband, a generous friend, and an adviser to many - from businessmen to politicians to leaders of the community. He attracted a large group of friends and associates, and his loyalty and commitment to them was returned in kind. As one of them noted, "He always gave more than he received". Unlike his siblings, he had a terrific singing voice and loved to sing along with bands at weddings, parties and clubs. His rendition of Mustang Sally was his signature song, though he knew the lyrics and arrangements of hundreds of standards from the Great American Song Book. Denny was an accomplished skier, tennis player and golfer. Denny was a founder and served on the Board of the Directors' Invitational Ski Classic, an annual pro-am charity ski event that raised monies to provide support for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Foundation among other beneficiaries. His untimely passing has left a void that will be difficult to fill. A memorial service is scheduled for May 5, 2016 at Lake Shore Country Club in Glencoe, IL. Gifts in Denny's memory should be made to the charity of one's choice.