TOLEDO, Ohio — If you were ever in the Westgate area during the last 25-plus years, you may have run into a man on the street wearing a suit and tie with a smile on his face.
That man was Aman'u'llah Farahmandnia, a 1980s refugee from Iran, who spent nearly three decades homeless in Toledo.
He was better known as "Mr. Aman." He was a person you may have often seen, but he had a story not many knew.
"He was not homeless by himself. He was not lonely," said Bruce Modarai, a friend who was Mr. Aman's medical guardian up until his death. "He had so many friends, he had so many relationships with people that I had no idea who they were."
Mr. Aman passed away on June 23 at the age of 73 from stage four colon cancer.
He leaves behind a story of adversity and positivity that numerous people in the Westgate community saw nearly every day.
"He would come in every morning and he would always come in and be effusively positive and just complimentary," said William Linner, a former employee of the Westgate Taco Bell who often saw Mr. Aman while with the company.
Born in the village of Sharaf-Abad in Iran on Christmas Day in 1950, Mr. Aman immigrated to America in the 1980s to seek an education, later enrolling in the University of Toledo from 1984-1990.
Mr. Aman was not alone when he came to the U.S., though.
"At the time, there was war in Iran between Iran and Iraq and he wanted me to come here and have an education," said Manoocher Mazeedian, a fellow refugee from Iran and friend from California.
Mr. Aman's obituary page on Coyle Funeral Home's website says that he was a teaching assistant with UT's engineering department. A university spokesperson said in an email they could not confirm if this was true.
"Our records indicate that he was a student between 1984 and 1990, with no degree awarded from the University," the email states. "I unfortunately have not been able to verify his specific role as a teaching assistant.
Mr. Aman's friends say that he lost his job at the university, though. And from there, his life changed.
"It's really a mystery to me how he changed over that period of time that he, at Ieast how I understand it, he lost his job at the university and the way he reacted to that, losing his job, to me it was a change in him, said Modarai.
Modarai says Mr. Aman became quiet, but never cold-hearted.
"He was basically a good man, was a very good-hearted human being," he said.
Mr. Aman became homeless, eventually finding a place of refuge at the Hanmi Covenant Presbyterian Church in west Toledo for more than 25 years.
At first, church leaders and community members were skeptical of his staying there. But for leaders, having a heart was more important than the space.
"If we would kick him out, he will die on the street because he is homeless and was older now," said pastor Jin Seung Kim. "He does so many things, good things for us, too."
According to Kim, Mr. Aman would help out around the church by cleaning, sweeping parking lots and vacuuming carpets.
He always did so with a smile and positive words to share — while dressed in a suit and tie — according to neighbors in surrounding neighborhoods.
"Aman was such an encourager to everybody," said Old Orchard neighborhood resident Theresa Sullivan-Harrington. "To mommies in the library whose children were out of sorts, he could just calm the storm and encourage everybody."
But those who knew him longer — Kim did for nearly 16 years — give Mr. Aman a holy comparison.
"I think he's God," Kim said.
While some called him God and others called him Mr. Aman, everyone WTOL 11 spoke with said he would call them by more than just their name.
Residents say he'd use an anagram, describing people using each letter of their first name.
In order to gauge who Mr. Aman was, WTOL 11 asked those who knew him to create their anagram.
"Artist, magnificient, adventurous and nice," said Modarai.
"Amazing, magnificient, awesome, nice," said Mazeedian.
"Amazing man around the neighborhood," said Linner.
"An amazing man about our neighborhood," said Margaret Day, an Old Orchard resident.
"Amazing, marvelous, awesome, nice guy," said Kim.