Obituary of Steven Henry Brooks

Steven Henry Brooks, a 17-year Darien resident, died suddenly at home early Sunday morning, September 3. He was 55. Mr. Brooks is survived by his wife of 22 years, Elmerina Baldini Brooks; sons Steven J. Brooks, 19, a sophomore at Cornell; Austin, 18, a senior at the Hotchkiss School; and Ryan, 15, a sophomore at Darien High School. Mr. Brooks was a 1989 founding partner and Managing Director of Brooks, Houghton & Co., Inc. in Manhattan, an investment banking firm for middle-market companies. He was born October 16, 1950 in Syracuse, New York, the son of the late Robert Brooks and Audrey Brooks, 87, now of Lancaster Pennsylvania. He graduated with a BS in engineering in 1972 from Cornell University, where he continued at its graduate business school, The Johnson School, receiving his MBA in 1974. Finance and travel became life-long passions. He would later journalize these travels in photographic recollection of poignant sensitivity and artistic skill. In 1975, while doing doctoral work in finance at The Wharton School, Mr. Brooks also worked in marketing at the Scott Paper Company. He successively worked at General Foods, Smith Barney, and Merrill Lynch until founding his own boutique investment banking firm in 1989 with business partner and friend Gerald Houghton of Ridgefield, Connecticut. Over the past 17 years, Brooks and Houghton built a company known for its high integrity, creativity, and uncanny success in funding higher risk deals. The two slowly recruited a bevy of associate talent from big-name investment houses who found at Brooks, Houghton a rare independence and entrepreneurial spirit. Mr. Brooks accessed capital and spotted investment opportunities almost anywhere and everywhere he could travel: China, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland, England, Germany and Italy. In perhaps his most remote expedition, Mr. Brooks found financing for the start-up of a now-successful ferry boat company servicing the Galapagos Islands. Mr. Brooks often said he would never retire because doing business deals with interesting people was so much fun. Indeed, he frequented yard sales on weekends to buy things he confessed he did not need just for the fun of negotiating the price. One Saturday, he lugged home a huge, sophisticated telescope because he could not resist bargaining to buy it. Mr. Brooks brought to his personal and family life an irrepressible enthusiasm, energy, upbeat sense of humor and unending love. A wrestler in college, he was a life-long regular at the NYC Athletic Club. He participated side-by-side with three teenage sons skiing, sailing, bicycling, and scuba diving. Mr. Brooks was an avid photographer and journalized his travels and family life. An eclectic intelligence, Mr. Brooks archived thousands of music CDs, books, and magazine articles. They filled bookcases. They filled his garage. An omnivorous reader, he could talk economics and history as easily as sports cars with friends he and his wife often hosted for dinner in their home. Mr. Brooks was a member of the First Congregational Church of Darien where he had served on the Board of Stewards. He also chaired alumni giving for his class at Cornell. He also leaves a brother, David Brooks of Stamford, Connecticut, and a sister, Carline Brooks Johnson of Florida. A memorial service will be held at the First Congregational Church of Darien, 14 Brookside Road, Darien at 11 a.m. Saturday, September 9th. A reception will follow the service at the Darien Community Association, 274 Middlesex Road, Darien. In lieu of flowers, the family asks contributions be made to the First Congregational Church, 14 Brookside Road, Darien, CT 06820 or the Center For Hope, 590 Post Rd., Darien, CT 06820. Funeral Home: Edward Lawrence Funeral Home 2119 Post Road Darien, CT USA 06820