On February 25, the world lost a nationally-renowned leader in the field of prosthetic care when Ken Woodward, CPO, passed away suddenly at the age of 64.

Kenneth Martin Woodward was born March 17, 1943 and joined Wright & Filippis in 1959. He most recently served as the company's Director of Prosthetics and celebrated his 48th year with the company in 2007.

"This is an enormous loss, not only for the Wright & Filippis family, but for every patient whose life he touched," said A.J. Filippis. "I've known Ken for virtually my entire life, so this is a tremendous personal loss as well." Ken's tenure with the company dates back to his high school days when he worked in a building maintenance position. He was quickly promoted to prosthetic technician, transferring to the Lansing facility in 1962. To further his career aspirations, Ken enrolled at New York University and later at Northwestern University. In 1967, he became a certified Prosthetist, later earning his ABC certification in orthotics in 1975.

He was promoted to director of orthotics and prosthetics in 1985, but with company growth and expanding industry demands, Ken began focusing his efforts on the field of prosthetics. One of his proudest achievements came in September 2003 with the development of a new program called AmpuTeam. His vision for providing greater prosthetic care and better patient function led to this innovative program which has helped provide training, education and encouragement to amputees and their healthcare providers.

"He was a champion for amputees and wanted nothing more than to promote the abilities of people with limb loss," said Brad Shebib, Rehabilitation Specialist at Wright & Filippis. "Ken's vision for the AmpuTeam program helped secure Wright & Filippis' reputation as a national leader in the field of prosthetics. But more importantly, it has made all who worked under him realize the true importance of each and every patient and what we need to do to help that patient realize their full potential." Wright & Filippis hosted a Memorial Celebration of Ken's life on March 12, as hundreds of friends, family members, co-workers and business associates gathered to honor a man they knew, respected and loved.

"Ken certainly did an extraordinary job of leading our prosthetics department," said A.J. Filippis, "but more than anything, he was a caring gentleman who committed his life to helping others, and he did so with great sympathy and compassion. "We truly lost a good friend."