Spoken from the Heart

For a young man, moving to the United States in the 1950s was a big opportunity, but Frank Angileri admits he felt lost at first. He had taken some English courses while working toward his degree at Palermo University in Italy and while he excelled in grammar, he struggled with the spoken language. Frank came from a working-class family and moved to Detroit with his wife, Bessie, for employment, "I came over penniless," he says. But, he brought his work ethic with him and Frank's native language became an asset when he began translating articles from English to Italian for a Detroit area newspaper. Frank then took a role as a quality engineer for Ford Motor Company. A position he held for 34 years, retired from, and, when he missed working, used to launch a 16-year career in quality consulting.

When Bessie became ill with dementia and needed care at Trinity Health Livonia, Frank recognized that having the best trained nurses, clinicians and doctors made the experience, even such a hard one, better. He was extremely grateful for their expertise and their care. "Everyone needs to be treated like a human being, like they matter. The nurses and doctors were knowledgeable, thorough and kind."

Years later, Frank also needed care at Trinity Health Livonia and he says that he would never want to go to another hospital, "the people at Trinity Health Livonia treat you like family. I enjoy spending time talking with people and getting to know them. Some of the staff even came in to spend time with me on Christmas Eve."

Frank has chosen to make a bequest to support Trinity Health Livonia, and while he has not restricted his gift, he sees ongoing training for physicians, nurses, clinicians and staff as very important - quality training is something he feels passionate about and would be proud to support. Frank's planned bequest to Trinity Health Livonia was made in gratitude for the care he and Bessie received. "I have been so fortunate in my lifetime and I want to give back," explains Frank - proving the language of kindness, of generosity, of love...is universal.