Henry Tienken's Son Shares Memories of his Father

Nov 05, 2018 – By: George Tienken, Georgia State

The following excerpts are from the November 2004 DELTASIG magazine, written by TienkenGeorge Tienken, Founder Henry Tienken's son.

Let me tell you what my Dad told me about the Fraternity. If he saw this today, he would be happily shocked - as I think most of the other founders would. I know that my father did not expect the growth and success the Fraternity has reached. I asked him once about the Fraternity. He did give me the reason why it was started and the purpose of it. He described it in this fashion: "If you looked up and saw a bunch of posts that are going to be a fence - but each one of them is just standing there - they don't have a function; but once you start stringing the wire, now there is a communication, there is something there, they are a body, they have a function." 

He felt the founding of the Fraternity would provide members with an opportunity to share with fellow students their mutual interests, their educational experiences and their future goals. He emphasized to me that this wasn't a social fraternity, it was a business fraternity. 

Henry Tienken was indeed a very unique man. He taught me what life was all about. I respected him, I loved him and I listened to him. My father's advice to me was, "The world owes you nothing. What the world gives you is a place to live and a path to take. It is up to you to take the right one." He was philosophical. His favorite poem (and he used to read it to me) was "IF" by Rudyard Kipling. 

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