In a treasured photo on their wedding day in 2013, attorney Brad Peri and his wife Jill are pictured with Jean Peri, who fell victim to ALS in 2015 at the age of 65.
Attorney lends helping hand in support of ALS of Michigan
By Tom Kirvan
Legal News
Brad Peri, a partner with the Goodman Acker law firm based in Southfield, recently doubled as a delivery man.
Happily, in fact.
A personal injury attorney for the firm headquartered in Southfield’s Two Towne Square, Peri didn’t have to travel far to make his special delivery, taking a short 2-mile drive north on the Lodge Freeway to an office on Northwestern Highway where he was welcomed with open arms.
He arrived at his destination with a $13,000 check in hand, made payable to “ALS of Michigan,” the nonprofit that he feels a special debt of gratitude to for the help it provided to his family when his mother was in the throes of battling what has become known as the dreaded “Lou Gehrig’s disease.”
The check represented this year’s proceeds from the 11th Annual Swing for a Cure golf outing that Peri founded in honor of his late mother, Jean, who was claimed by the disease in April 2015. Since the outing’s inception, Goodman Acker has served as the lead sponsor of the fundraising event.
“The golf outing has a two-fold purpose, to honor my mother’s memory and to raise much-needed funds for others who are currently battling the disease,” said Peri, noting that ALS is widely recognized as a “family disease” that can reshape the lives of everyone involved. “Since we started this outing 11 years ago, we have raised well over $100,000 to support the ALS program.”
In medical terms, ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a progressive and inevitably fatal neurodegenerative disorder that destroys the motor neurons controlling voluntary muscle movement. Since ALS attacks physical autonomy while usually leaving a patient’s cognitive awareness intact, it is often described as one of the most psychologically and physically cruel diseases. For many years, ALS was commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, a condition that cut short the legendary career of the New York Yankee slugger in the late 1930s.
When Peri’s mother was diagnosed with the disease in 2013 after she began experiencing trouble with arm movement, it didn’t take long for ALS to dramatically alter her life and that of her family’s. Her health problems worsened over the next year as all of her upper and lower extremities were affected, causing her to be confined to a wheel chair.
“Within a year, she was in a state of rapid decline,” Peri said of his mother, who worked for Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester before her health condition appeared. “She was a very active person who loved to play golf and to be outside, and quickly all that was taken away from her.”
As his mother’s condition worsened, Peri said that ALS of Michigan stepped up, providing a hospital bed and a sophisticated eye-reading communication device that allowed her to express her needs and wishes.
“They were a tremendous help to us as we dealt with her health needs,” said Peri, an alumnus of Michigan State University who earned his juris doctor from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in 2009. “So, after she passed away in the spring of 2015, I wanted to honor her memory and to also raise money in support of ALS of Michigan. A charity golf outing was a way to make that happen.”
This year’s outing, which took place August 21 at the Orchards Golf Club in Macomb County, attracted more than 70 golfers on a sun-splashed day that was highlighted by several on-course events, including the traditional closest to the pin contest with a special twist.
“My mom loved to shop for shoes and had a signature shoe collection,” Peri indicated. “As a result, last year we introduced a new feature to the closest to the pin contest, requiring contestants to hit their tee shots on the par 3 while wearing high heels. We did it again this year and everybody got a real kick out of it.”
Particularly Peri’s wife, Jill, who claimed top honors in the women’s division with an especially sweet shot.
The annual outing, not surprisingly, has turned into a family affair, according to Peri.
“My dad (Mike) plays in it each year, as he was really devoted to my mom’s care during her ALS battle,” said Peri, whose father spent the bulk of his career as a quality control engineer with General Dynamics before retiring. “Our kids, Cole and Leighton, also have become involved, and it’s been important for them to hear about the grandmother they never had the joy of meeting. As I said at the outing, the event is rooted in love, remembrance, and purpose.”
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