Tony served for four years as a refrigeration and air conditioning mechanic. He was stationed on board a naval ship for nine months, spent time in Okinawa, at Camp LeJeune, Camp Elmore, and finally landed at Camp Pendleton in California where he was honorably discharged in 1981.

After his military service, he went to work at a machine shop and, at the age of 25, was diagnosed with kidney disease from renal toxicity and started dialysis. From there, Tony went to night school to learn electrical equipment repair, worked for a major appliance company doing repairs, and was there for 30 years before he left to be an independent business owner repairing appliances. In 2019 he retired due to the complications of his kidney disease.

Tony is looking for his third kidney donor. His first transplant was in 1989, six years after he started dialysis at 25, unfortunately, it did not work, and he found himself back on dialysis. Three years later, he had his second transplant and this one lasted 28 years but again, he found himself back on dialysis in 2019. Tony lost his first wife, Tina Marie, with whom he shares four children and 11 grandchildren. He now has Susan as his support person, and he really appreciates all she does for him.