A. Robert Towbin earned a football scholarship to Dartmouth and studied Shakespeare there, but he didn’t even know how to swim when a college friend convinced him to break into the boathouse and take his first sail. That voyage turned into a lifelong passion for sailing. Later in life, he raced in two Rolex TransAtlantic Races, winning both in his class. He was a longtime member of the New York Yacht Club, serving for a time as fleet captain and a board member, and he was proud to have joined the Royal Yacht Squadron in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Towbin, who lived in Key Largo, Fla., and New York City, died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease on Nov. 18 at home in Key Largo. A former East Hampton resident, he was 86 years old.
His wife, Lisa Ann Towbin, wrote that “his soul was that of an artist, sailor, and raconteur.”
“Always a Brooklyn boy at heart, friends describe him as a force of nature, the most generous man they’ve ever met, and full of so many stories that included famous artists, writers, diplomats, and more, that were actually true,” she wrote.
Abraham Robert Towbin was born in Brooklyn on May 26, 1935, the youngest of four children.
He began his investment banking career in the 1960s, joining the firm Unterberg Towbin and working there for more than 50 years. He also joined the board of New York magazine and treasured his relationships with many of the country’s leading authors. Through his appointment by the United States government as founding president and C.E.O. of the Russian-American Enterprise Fund, headquartered in Moscow, he developed a love for people and the arts, including the opera, ballet, and all the museums of Russia.
Mr. Towbin later became managing director and executive vice president of Stephens Inc., and was a board member of Bank United, Gerber Scientific, and Globecomm Systems. He was a past vice chairman of the New York State Council for the Arts and a former board chairman of Saint David’s School and Marymount College in New York City. His memberships also included the Bond Club, Harmonie Club, Century Association, the National Golf Links of America, and the Chelsea Arts Club of London.
The Towbins had a waterfront home in East Hampton for 50 years until 2009. In addition to his wife, who lives in Key Largo, Mr. Towbin leaves three children, Minna Pinger of San Francisco, Zach Towbin of Madrid, and Bram Towbin of Vermont, and two stepchildren, John Grunow III of Key Largo and April Urbana of Charleston, S.C. He also leaves 10 grandchildren: Dash, Belmont, and Zyla Pinger; Harry, Phoebe, and Cayetana Towbin, George Urbana, and Johnny, Hope, and Betty Grunow.
