SEND FLOWERS
Obituary
Tony was a student at Roosevelt High School, Wyandotte where he was a swimmer/diver. He was a champion at the butterfly stroke. He joined the Air Force and was stationed at KI Sawyer A.F.B. Marquette, MI. He met his first wife Sheri in Marquette, MI. and has four children: John, Teri, Mark, Niki Jo spouse Steve. He has five grandchildren: John, David, Tony, Austin and Ashley. He has four great-grandchildren: Kamden, Kasen, Tyson and Brendon. Tony has five siblings: Barbara spouse James, Kevin spouse Deborah, Jerome spouse Virginia, Jeffery spouse Debra, and Christopher. As well as many nieces and nephews and cousins.
During his career in the Air Force he worked in fuels and at one time was stationed at Andrews Air Force base in charge of refueling Air Force One and any planes that flew in dignitaries requiring a high security clearance. When he was visiting in Michigan, he always visited his friends from high school. The group called themselves “The Spodies” and had an old leather football helmet that they decorated. They would pass the helmet to the guy who would hold the next get together.
After retiring from the Air Force he lived in Michigan and refueled planes at Detroit Metro Airport. Being in the military, he was a gypsy at heart and relocated to Colorado where he met his second wife Gloria. He and Gloria traveled and he did odd jobs for awhile. He ended up divorcing Gloria.
While he was visiting Michigan he met Evelyn who was also visiting family. They decided to check out California where they rented a house on the Pacific Ocean.
The house was for sale and they were able to rent it until it was sold. They were replacing the homes in that area with mini mansions so it was scheduled to be torn down. From there they moved to Las Vegas where Tony painted houses and Evelyn sold cars. Eventually Tony and Evelyn settled in Pahrump, Nevada where they had a new home built. Tony worked delivering medical supplies. He enjoyed this work and the company he worked for.
Tony got the traveling bug again and moved to Golden Valley, Arizona. He bought a piece of property and had a modular home installed with a three car garage. This was his final residence. During his time with Evelyn he had bought a motor home and spent many summers traveling to cooler climates to beat the western heat.
Tony was a member of the VFW. He loved sports and cheered for his original home teams from Detroit: The Lions, Tigers and Red Wings!
He lived a simple life and liked a good time as most of his siblings understood he was much like his grandfather Leon. He loved his children and his pets. Once he settled in Arizona he always had a dog. His Daughter Teri who lived near him and his brother Jeff helped him take care of Evelyn. Teri latter moved in with him while continuing to work in Laughlin, Nevada about 25 miles away. His son Mark came to assist Teri the last few weeks until his death at home.
Tony is preceded in death by his parents Anthony Sr. and Doris and his wife Evelyn.
Tony was a welcoming person, although he didn’t get the mechanical abilities of his father Anthony or his brothers, he would be helpful to those in need. He had a strong work ethic and was always employed, sometimes working two jobs when he was in the military. He had a sense of duty but understood that we don’t have control over what life brings to us. Although he wasn’t religious he accepted what life gave him. He once told a story of when he was stationed in Thailand, he was drinking in a bar with some other soldiers and he had spent some time with one guy in particular (probably shooting pool). A couple weeks later he was loading body bags on an airplane to return them home and noticed this guys name on the bag.
Some people felt Tony could be nonchalant at times. But that’s how he coped with life. He will be missed…however our memories of him will live on.
