Detroit Free Press article by Jack Kresnak…

…Mr. Filippis, who helped build Wright & Filippis into the state's largest supplier of home health care products and services, died early Tuesday of heart failure at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. He was 91 and a resident of Royal Oak…

…Mr. Filippis was a talented man who landed jobs in tailoring and bookkeeping.. But, he said years later, he soon was fired when employers learned he walked on artificial legs. Depressed and frustrated, Mr. Filippis went to see prosthetics maker Carl Wright for an adjustment to the artificial limbs. Wright offered him a job as an apprentice and, 10 years later in 1944, they formed Wright & Filippis. Wright died in 1959 and the company, now headquartered in Rochester Hills, has been run by the Filippis family ever since. Mr. Filippis was an enthusiastic supporter of the rights of people with disabilities to work and recreate to the best of their abilities. In 1946, he formed the state's first bowling league for people with disabilities and a swimming program at Patton Pool in Detroit. Over the years, he also developed a variety of sports programs in metro Detroit, including basketball, baseball, softball, golf, tennis, boxing and track and field for people of all abilities. He participated in all those sports and also trained as many as 22 amateur boxers at a time, his family said. In 1999, Mr. Filippis founded the Athletes with Disabilities Hall of Fame, housed at the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan…

…Visitation will be 2-9 p.m. today and noon-9 p.m. Thursday at the A.J. Desmond & Sons Funeral Home, 2600 Crooks Road, Troy. The funeral will be 10 a.m. Friday at Guardian Angels Catholic Church, 581 E. Fourteen Mile Road, Clawson, followed by burial at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Southfield.

See the full article at… http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070124/NEWS08/701240336

My comments: I participated in several meetings with Tony in the past. He was a gentleman with a passionate commitment to promoting the interests of people with disabilities.