Timothy J. Engel
Timothy J. Engel of Katonah died at the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla on Thursday, October 27. He was 59. Family said he had been troubled and his death was the result of suicide.
The son of Tinka D. Topping of Sagponack and the late Herman Engel, Mr. Engel was born in New York City and went to the Dalton School, graduated from the New Lincoln School and attended New York University.
Early in his career, Mr. Engel was a reporter and writer for the in-house magazine at CBS and a speech writer for ABC, both in Manhattan. He later worked in marketing for the Dreyfus Corporation in Manhattan and Fidelity Investments in Boston. He also managed family real estate holdings in White Plains and Connecticut.
Mr. Engel was well-known in the Sagaponack-Bridgehampton area, where he lived for a time as a child and attended Bridgehampton School. As a young man, he had worked on a ranch in Wyoming, an experience that was important to him. On the South Fork, he worked at the Topping Horse Farm and in farming with his stepfather, the late Bud Topping. He enjoyed hunting and was an enthusiastic member of the Mecox Ice Boat Club. As an amateur athlete, he played tennis and coached recreational basketball, his favorite sport, as well as baseball and soccer from the time his children were four or five through their teenaged years.
He is survived by his wife of 30 years, Elizabeth McLanahan Engel; three children, Ruby Engel of Katonah, Gavin D. Engel of Rhode Island and Jasper Engel of Brooklyn; three sisters, Kathy Engel of Sagaponack, Susan Engel of Massachusetts, and Jenno Topping of California.
A private gathering will be held at the family’s home in Katonah on Saturday, November 19.
Memorial donations to the Ruby Engel college scholarship fund maybe be sent to Elizabeth Engel, 193 Todd Road, Katonah, NY 10536.