ANN ARBOR, MI – Arthur Fillbrunn spent over two decades hustling on the streets of downtown Ann Arbor.

Many in the community knew him simply as Arthur, and many who didn’t at least knew the sound of his crutch clanking down the sidewalk and the usual refrain of his scratchy voice.

“Excuse me,” the bearded man in the ball cap or winter hat would say to passersby before asking for “50 cents or a buck” to get something to eat.

Ann Arbor’s most prolific and well-known panhandler — and in some ways, a man of mystery — died Feb. 25 following a stroke, those who knew him said.

He was 66.

Right up there with most quirky, iconic street characters of Ann Arbor’s past, like Shakey Jake and Spooner, Fillbrunn was a fixture downtown, often roaming the Main Street area.

“I would run into Arthur a lot,” said Ann Arbor resident Rich Retyi. “He was definitely somebody that you recognized.”

Regulars at Old Town Tavern raised their glasses in honor of Fillbrunn on Friday, Feb. 28, as they took turns remembering and sharing stories of the New Yorker who came to Ann Arbor in the 1990s and made it his home.

“Arthur was the closest I’ve ever seen in my life to the personification of a Samuel Beckett character,” said David McLendon, editor of the Unsaid literary journal.

“He was alone, but he always had a sense of humor. When things were looking bleak, he always had a joke. And he always had a prop … he had the crutch.”

Ann Arbor resident Jim Walke recalled seeing Fillbrunn around in the 1990s.

“Arthur was around when I was in college, which was a long time ago, and then I was gone for 18 years, and he was still here when I got back,” he said.

Like some, Walke said he knew him by the nickname “Crutchy.” It’s been debated whether Fillbrunn really needed the crutch or if he used it to gain sympathy.

“I do remember the day that some frat boy out here was giving him a hard time, and Arthur began chasing him down the street with his crutch at full speed,” Walke said.

“I feel like it was more an emotional support,” Paquetta Palmer said of the crutch.

Palmer, an Ann Arbor resident and longtime activist for marginalized community members, said she knew Fillbrunn from the streets and through her former job at Washtenaw County Community Mental Health.

“All the people here were really supportive of him,” she said of the staff at Old Town, where he’d hang around.

“If he didn’t feel well, they would tell me and then I could tell his case manager,” she said, adding Fillbrunn sometimes slept in the alley or on a bench outside, and there were times they weren’t sure if he was dead or alive.

Fillbrunn battled with substance abuse and mental health issues and was homeless off and on, though he lived in public housing before he died, those who knew him said.

“When he came here, I heard a rumor that he assumed a false identity, but then later on, they were able to find out his identity and get him some benefits and housing,” Palmer said.

Fillbrunn told the Ann Arbor Observer in 2011 he was a Vietnam veteran who came to Ann Arbor for stomach surgery at the VA Hospital, though the Veterans Administration declined to confirm details of that account.

He was in and out of court over the years, charged with offenses such as disorderly conduct, trespassing, unlawful solicitation and controlled substance violations, records show.

Chris Easthope, a former Ann Arbor judge who handled some of those cases, said he’s sad to hear Fillbrunn died.

“Arthur was more sophisticated than people actually knew. He was a fixture downtown and was kind to anyone who ran into him,” Easthope said. “He was always respectful to everyone around the courthouse. He was one of the characters that made downtown Ann Arbor unique.”

While he didn’t speak much, Fillbrunn was known to the staff of many downtown bars and restaurants who occasionally gave him a free Coca-Cola or bite to eat.

Staff at the Fleetwood Diner fondly recall him saddling up on his regular stool at the lunch counter for a burger.

“Arthur was spoiled, so to speak, because all these businesses fed him,” Palmer said.

At left is the stool where staff at the Fleetwood Diner in downtown Ann Arbor say panhandler Arthur Fillbrunn regularly sat down to eat burgers.Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

Like most panhandlers, Fillbrunn had a love-hate relationship with the business owners, said City Council Member Jeff Hayner, who said he knew Fillbrunn “pre-crutch.”

“Everyone recognized his right to be on the street, but the way he would post up at certain places could be annoying. They would ask him to move along, and he would,” he said, agreeing with many that Fillbrunn was one of the characters who made Ann Arbor unique and will be missed.

Heather Loring said Fillbrunn was a regular when she was manager at the Espresso Royale coffee shop on Main Street. He would sometimes try to sleep in the stairwell.

“He would come in every day and say, ‘Hey, Heather, can I have a Coke?’ … so I would definitely help him,” she said.

Sometimes he provided entertainment, telling off-color jokes in exchange for money or a cigarette.

“He was quite the jokester,” said Dianna Holtz, a Community Mental Health nurse who wrote Fillbrunn’s obituary with help from Kevin Spangler of Boober Tours.

“He was actually a really nice guy,” Holtz said. “If you knew him, you liked him, most likely."

There were a lot of unfounded rumors about Fillbrunn, like that he secretly had a lot of money and owned a nice house, Holtz said.

“He did not have a mansion and he was just a guy who was trying to get by with the cards dealt him,” she said.

“His panhandling may have annoyed some people, but what was he going to do? He didn’t have a lot and he had some demons that he was battling.”

Holtz said that as far as she knows, Fillbrunn really did need his crutch.

“I feel like it’s one of those cases of ‘there but for the grace of God go I’ — don’t judge people, because you don’t know what they’ve been through,” Palmer said. “And he’s just somebody who had some serious issues.”

Ann Arbor changed a lot during Fillbrunn’s time, and Palmer thinks some of the wealthy people who now live here can be overly dismissive of homeless people and panhandlers.

“I just feel like you should always remember, you could hit rock bottom, too, and if you did, would you want people to be kind to you?” she said.

Arthur Fillbrunn, with his crutch propped up, stops to rest outside a Main Street restaurant while panhandling in downtown Ann Arbor in September 2015.Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

Palmer is working with Jude Walser, a bartender at Logan Restaurant, to organize a memorial for Fillbrunn, 4-6 p.m. March 25 at Hathaway’s Hideaway, 310 S. Ashley St.

Several businesses are pitching in funds or food, including Cafe Zola, Alley Bar, Old Town and Logan, Palmer said, adding she’s also reaching out to other businesses.

At the memorial, they’ll be raising donations to support local shelter and mental health services, Walser said.

Walser said he knew Fillbrunn for about 15 or 20 years while working as a bartender downtown. He has many of the same memories others have of Fillbrunn, including observing that he never saw him drink alcohol.

“He never asked me for anything other than Coke. He loved Coke,” he said.

Toward the end, Fillbrunn’s health was declining and there were instances of regrettable behavior, but it’s important to meet his struggle with compassion, Walser said, adding there was a lot more to him than what some saw.

Walser wants to raise awareness of mental illness and said there’s still a recognizable homeless community in Ann Arbor.

“Downtown will always have its Arthurs,” he said.

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