How a UM-Dearborn family celebrates their legacy

Nearly a year ago, Tom Fezzey graduated from UM-Dearborn with a degree in engineering. Two months ago, he returned to the university to work with students at the annual campus hackathon, Hack Dearborn. Now an electrical engineer at Intrepid Control Systems, Fezzey also gave the keynote address. Following the event, Fezzey shared how grateful he is for the education and memories that he gained at UM-Dearborn. 

Among those: He proposed to his now-wife Madison Lipka, a 2023 graduate, on the Fieldhouse ice. He gained research experience through an engineering capstone project, where he demoed a programming tool he created called Free-Wili, which his company now sells. And the 24-year-old explored the Environmental Interpretive Center trails as a child.

Fezzey is a proud UM-Dearborn Wolverine. But to fully understand his maize-and-blue enthusiasm, you have to go back more than a month, year or even decade — Fezzey’s UM-Dearborn roots were planted even before he was born. “UM-Dearborn was the only college I applied to,” Fezzey says. “It was an easy decision for me and, looking back, it was the right one. I have to give credit to my grandpa.”

Fezzey’s grandfather David Dezsi, 80, graduated from the university in 1968. Fezzey’s father Jason Fezzey, who is Dezsi’s son-in-law, is also a UM-Dearborn grad. “UM-Dearborn springboarded my whole career and I’m grateful for my time there, but Tom’s strong connection with UM-Dearborn is all because of his grandpa,” says Jason Fezzey, who earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in management information systems in 1998. “My father-in-law lives and breathes UM-Dearborn. Tom’s grown up with that.”

Tom Fezzey describes Grandpa Dezsi as the ultimate UM-Dearborn cheerleader. He brought Fezzey to campus activities and events — and still does. There are maize-and-blue signs around his house. And Dezsi calls himself a campus goodwill ambassador. 

You may have met Dezsi if you’ve worn a U-M t-shirt in public. He always carries UM-Dearborn lapel pins with him — and if he sees someone wearing a Block M, he will make friendly conversation and ask if the person’s a UM-Dearborn graduate. If they are, they get a pin. Dezsi, who uses a wheelchair, now has his grandson help him with this work. “We were at a restaurant and my grandpa saw someone wearing U-M, so I walked up to ask. Turns out that the guy was a UM-Dearborn graduate,” Fezzey says. “I gave him the pin and he came over to our table to talk with us.”

Dezsi, a retired field engineer from Factory Mutual Insurance Company, started at the university in the mid-1960s when it was the University of Michigan-Dearborn Center. Interested in engineering, Dezsi initially went to Michigan Technological University and then transferred to UM-Dearborn, which was a two-year college for juniors and seniors at that time. “I was born and raised in Wyandotte and the university was close to home, so I could live with my parents and work during the summer at Wyandotte Chemical (now BASF),” says Dezsi, who earned a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and physics. “It was over 50 years ago now, so I can’t remember all the details of my time in college. But I know UM-Dearborn was and is a great school.”

Now a Southgate resident, Dezsi says the university has transformed in the 56 years between his graduation and his grandson’s. He recalls there were only four buildings that made up the entire campus while he was a student. “I am impressed with how much the university has grown,” he says. “So much has changed since I went here, but something about being on campus still feels familiar.” 

Even with the physical changes around campus, Dezsi says his UM-Dearborn relationships remained constant long after graduation. He remembers having the late Professor Emeritus of Mathematics Roger Verhey — who taught at the university from 1965 to 2007 — as an incoming professor; Dezsi kept in contact with Verhey intermittently until Verhey’s death in 2023. Dezsi also met lifelong friends in his math classes, namely 1960s alums Frank Belyan, Dan Buchanan and the late Dorothy (Ray) Kaltsas.

After graduation, Dezsi landed a position in Ford Motor Company’s test lab, bought a house in Southgate, got married and raised four children. As spirited as Dezsi is about the university, he was focused on other areas of his life — until he had a dream. “In this dream, I'm at the pearly gates and I had to account for myself in this dream. I remember saying that I didn't kill anybody or steal anything. But then I was asked, ‘What have you done to make the world a better place?’,” says Dezsi, who was in his late 40s at that time. “When I woke up, that question stuck with me.”

It’s been more than 30 years since then. In an effort to make the world a better place, Dezsi has mentored at-risk youth at Southgate Asher’s Alternative High School and served on the Southgate Community Schools Board of Education. At UM-Dearborn, he’s volunteered extensively, speaking with students about STEM careers, contributing toward scholarship initiatives and leading UM-Dearborn alumni groups through executive board positions. He’s also been actively involved in university events.

“I wouldn’t have the life I do now without my education. I wanted to help people continuously improve themselves,” Dezsi says. “Through volunteering, I learned that when you do something to help other people feel good, you feel good. Then you have a desire to do more. You just need to take the first step.” Get involved with alumni engagement efforts.

Just last month, Deszi attended the U-M Alumni Club of Downriver’s U-M vs. Maryland football game watch party. he was a president of the club and served as vice president last year. Going back further, Dezsi served on the UM-Dearborn Alumni Society Board in the 1990s. While on the board, he helped establish the Alumni Legacy Scholarship, which provides a partial scholarship to academically talented students with familial or other significant ties to UM-Dearborn alums. He also earned a UM-Dearborn Alumni Service Award in 1999. “We were encouraged to invite a professor to attend with us. I invited Professor Verhey. It was 30 years after I had graduated — and he still showed up to support me,” Dezsi says. “I’ll never forget that.”

Other proud alum moments include having his nature photography and paintings exhibited a number of times at juried fine art shows at the library’s Berkowitz Gallery — and having the university purchase his photo of a sandhill crane that’s on display in the EIC. And his most cherished memory is seeing his grandson turn a maize tassel last December. Fezzey, thanks in part to his grandpa’s nomination letter, received the Alumni Legacy Scholarship that Dezsi helped create. “Tom is my first-born grandson and I saw him graduate from UM-Dearborn. It was such a proud moment,” Dezsi says. “I would have supported him no matter what university he chose, but I am very glad that he’s a U-M alumnus like I am.”

Today, the grandfather-grandson duo can be seen attending events on campus. Over the summer, they arrived at the UM-Dearborn alumni picnic together. Fezzey is active with the university in his own right, emulating the example he saw while growing up.

And this legacy may continue. Fezzey and his wife are expecting their first child in March, the family’s first great-grandchild. Great Grandpa Dezsi has already purchased a U-M newborn romper outfit. “I’m blessed. I have my education, a good life and a great family,” Dezsi says. “I’m especially fortunate to have the longevity to see how everything has come together so wonderfully.”

Story by Sarah Tuxbury