Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

A celebration of life is planned for Tony Poma of Tony's Dogs at Community Bible Church in Brighton later this month, according to his family.

Bev Poma joined WHMI's Chuck and Madison out at Great Lakes Automotive Sales on Saturday.

"I want to take this opportunity to thank this wonderful community I live in. Everyone has said so many kind things about Tony. He was a great guy. He was a great husband. Great grandfather and great grandpa and dad," she said. "He loved Howell. He was born here. He loved his community."

Tony has been described as a "street evangelist," who just happened to serve hot dogs.

"He said I'm like bartender, where someone comes in and tells him everything. He prayed for a lot of sick people who happened to get well. He always talked about his faith and wanted to make sure other people had faith."

Tony's stepson, state Rep. Jason Woolford, said the outpouring of love from the community has helped raise his family's spirit during this difficult time.

"Just to see the type of human being he turned into, his generosity to people," Woolford told WHMI. "His goal was to encourage people, and to make them laugh."

"I have a friend who makes hundreds of millions of dollars a year, (Tony) could talk to him well, and he would talk to the guy who is down and out well. Tony was a special human being."

The celebration of life for Tony is scheduled Friday, May 22 at Community Bible Church in Brighton. Visitation is scheduled for 4:30 pm, with a service slated for 6 pm.

Photo courtesy of State Rep. Jason Woolford's personal Facebook page.