Nancy, Justin and Graham I have no words to convey our sorrow for your loss. Know for this is also the beginning of a much deeper appreciation of your life partner and dad that is impossible to appreciate in life. He is a STAR of curiosity love and a deeply giving spirit that he shared with everyone. He is a giver of love spirit and shared such a bright appreciation of his life. Now we ALL share a deeper appreciation of all we encounter just like he showed us in the way he lived his life.

Thank you tony for the gift and model you shared and the wonderful memories we will have of your gifts.

 Dom Costabile

My deepest consonances to Nancy, Graham and Justin. I am so deeply sorry to hear about Tony’s passing.

He was such a good person and mentored so many, including me. He was an eternal optimist and a top notch LEAN Six Sigma professional.

He was kind. He he was always able and willing to help colleagues and the company.

Since he was based in IL and I was based in MN, we mostly spoke on the phone. It was always a blast when we could come together for an in person training session or department meeting.

I will never forget how he drove up for the going away parties for our dearly beloved SVP.

Tony and I shared the point of view quality is empowering and it belongs to everyone.

We really bonded when he had a company website on LEAN and I was running a complementary site on Quality. We cross pollinated, ideas and content. We had such a great time supporting each other and spreading the gospel of quality.

I was honored he would often run his newsletter by me before he published it.   He was an expert and it meant a lot he sought out my opinion.

We could talk about 7s for hours. I enjoyed hearing about his work with professional associations and how he was continually learning and making a difference.

Tony also inspired me to get the Litterati app to track trash pick up. I am amazed how he would walk to work and pick up trash.

We would also touch on family. Tony would also lovingly mention Nancy, Graham and Justin. His love for each of you was so apparent. I wish I could remember details of those parts of our conversations. I do know how deeply he loved each of you and how you were so central to his life.

I ended up starting my own company and Tony was one of my first supporters on LinkedIn. His support meant so much! For some reason, his updates were not coming through on my feeds and now I am comforted I can scroll his LinkedIn page and get the perspective only Tony could provide.

I am so sorry to hear about Tony. He made a big impact on me and I am a much better person for knowing him. He will be deeply missed.

I am so deeply saddened and sorry to hear about Tony's sudden passing. 

I met Tony in 2007 for Green Belt and Lean training at Optum. It was the first time I facilitated a training and, while I got plenty of "constructive" feedback on how to be a better teacher, Tony built me up. For several years beyond that he credited some of his passion for Lean to that training, and in turn, to me. I think it was in his nature to build people up and help them see the good they maybe couldn't see for themselves. 

I worked with Tony for another 10+ years after that training and wouldn't have had it any other way. I loved traveling to Pheonix a couple times with Tony to facilitate Lean projects where his passion to make anything and everything better (not just the work process we were there to fix) was inspiring to be around. When we traveled, he always found a unique place to eat our team dinners and proceeded to praise the servers and cooks for the fabulous food while he shared stories of his wife Nancy and his sons who he was clearly so proud. 

Hearing from Tony and interacting with him always made my day. I got to be a recipient of the "yippie's" and "oh boy's" sometimes when Tony was looking forward to a new project. I also was a recipient of his email updates (and occasional picture) about how much liter he was able to collect on his way into work; His passion for life was evident in everything he did - even in picking up trash on the side of the road because it made the world a better place. 

Since Tony retired from Optum, he checked in with me a few times and in a more recent text, he reached out just to say hi and he wrote "I hope this finds you happy, healthy and loved." Knowing a little bit about how Tony lived, I know he was happy, healthy and loved every day, making it a little easier for him to help others feel the same way. I am thankful he chose to spend so much of his time dedicated to his work at Optum and more importantly, I am grateful to have known him.

My heart goes out to the Heath Family and would like to express my condolences.

Tony was a great person with a passion for Lean and making things better. This was evident in how he lived his life and the impact he made on others. I am grateful to have met Tony and thankful for the time and knowledge he shared that made me a better person.

Dear Tony,

When you married my sister, Nancy, I knew she had a keeper!  You exuded kindness. People could see it in your face, a kind of radiance, almost. Your wonderful smile, those alert blue eyes....

We miss you, Tony. We miss you badly. You left us way too early,  And you left a great big hole in all our lives.  The coffee you brewed and brought to Nancy every morning... The weekly Saturday breakfasts at a local diner.... The strong and happy marriage you had with Nancy.  The way you embraced your sons, Justin and Graham, as well as Allison and Laura.

We're gathering to say goodbye.  We're going to honor you and celebrate your life. So many people from all phases of your life.  So many people from far away.  We are drawn together by our love for you,

We will always remember you, dear Tony.