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Ann Arbor's 'Most Prolific and Well-Known Panhandler' Dies at 66

March 02, 2020, 7:48 AM


Arthur Fillbrunn worked the streets of downtown Ann Arbor. (Photo: Google StreetView)

Some panhandlers become fixtures in downtown areas. Fair to say Arthur Fillbrunn was one.

After more than two decades hustling in downtown Ann Arbor, Fillbrunn died last week at 66 from a stroke. He was a native New Yorker who came to Ann Arbor in the 1990s.

Ryan Stanton of MLive describes him as the city's "most prolific and well-known panhandler:" 

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.

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


Read more:  MLive


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