If you were a person with a disability in 1929, you were supposed to stay in the house and remain invisible.
But Tony Filippis thumbed his nose at the notion of hiding from society, and today he's front and center in the fight for equal treatment and opportunities for people with disabilities.
When he was 13, Filippis lost both his feet when he slipped while riding a freight train to a favorite swimming hole in Ferndale. At first, Filippis, the son of Italian immigrants, sat on his Detroit porch watching other kids play. But after he was fitted with prosthetics, he was determined to succeed in life.
Though he had trouble getting the attention of girls, he excelled in sports -- boxing, baseball, bowling, football and hockey -- amazing everyone around him. He studied bookkeeping but could not persuade employers to give him a chance because of his disability. He shared his frustration with Carl Wright, the man who fitted him with his first pair of prosthetics. Wright hired him to make artificial limbs.
Ten years later, in 1943, Filippis started his own company, Wright & Filippis, persuading Wright to join him. The company became the state's largest maker of prosthetics and equipment for people with disabilities and today has more than 600 employees and 33 locations in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.
His company, philanthropy and championing causes for people with disabilities became his life's work.
"I'm not trying to brag," Filippis said. "But I've done more for people with disabilities in the world. I've done more to turn wrong into right."
Richard Bernstein, one of his closest friends, agrees.
"I love Tony Filippis," said Bernstein, an attorney who advocates for people with disabilities. "He is the embodiment of an angel. When you look into the eyes of Tony Filippis, when you hear what he has to say, you realize it's nothing short of the seeing the face of God."
Two decades after Filippis supposedly retired in 1985, the 89-year-old continues to work without pay. He clocks 12- to 14-hour work days, attending board meetings, community gatherings, chicken dinners, rallies -- anything that will help people with disabilities.
His son, Anthony "A.J." Filippis Jr., said his father's mission has always consumed him, sometimes at the expense of spending time with wife Frances, whom he married in 1935, and his family, which also includes daughter Nancy and their late son Eugene.
"His whole life is his work," A.J. Filippis said.
Each year, Wright & Filippis gives hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships, donations and equipment to people with disabilities. Filippis also donates thousands of dollars of his personal money to people and groups who've requested his help.
Every year, he sponsors a wheelchair basketball game with patients and staff at Beaumont Hospital, and a Wheelchair Days picnic with clowns and a band for anyone who wants to come.
In 1999, Filippis founded the Athletes with Disabilities Hall of Fame and hosts a dinner to celebrate their achievement. In May 2003, Gov. Jennifer Granholm named Filippis vice-chair of the Michigan Commission on Disability Concerns.
"Everything he does is focused on improving the quality of life for people of all backgrounds," said Duncan Wyeth, the commission's executive director. "He is concerned that people are full participants in the political process, that people have access to public policy makers and the technology to live their lives. He has worked on many levels to increase those opportunities."
Meghann Mealbach, who has cerebral palsy, was so inspired by Filippis' life that she made a movie about him. "No Limits: The Tony Filippis Story," premiered May 5 in Dearborn.
"He's just shown me how much strength one person can have and how much you can overcome," said Mealbach, 18, of Dearborn. "You can give yourself obstacles, or you can give yourself opportunities."
Filippis said the key to his success is really quite simple: "I convince people with disabilities that they are not disabled."
Kimberly Hayes Taylor
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