CHICAGO — The three principal survivors following the death of Tony Fitzpatrick are Michele, his wife, and their two adult children, Max and Gabrielle, or Gabby. It can be argued, I suppose, that he is also survived by hundreds, perhaps thousands, of others whose lives the visual artist touched during his wildly active 66 years on this planet.

His life came to its end via heart attack on Oct. 11, 2025, in Rush University Medical Center, where he had been awaiting a lung transplant. His wife and children were there and have since gone about living without Tony’s love, tenderness and inspiration.

It’s easy to recall what the kids said when he died.

Gabby: “He made everything we did together feel like a sort of expedition. … I have never felt alone in this life, because I have always had him. And I will never lose him. And he and I will always be a part of this great big world.”

Max: “My dad was my world. I attached my string to him and went wherever he could take me. He showed me an entire world that said it was possible to be anything you want to be so long as you do it with charm, humor, creativity and style.”

Sustained by memories of him, Max and Gabby will soon present Tony’s final film role in a movie called “Driven,” which has a run time of 12 minutes and 16 seconds.

As an example of the shadow that Tony still casts on this city is the fact that when it was announced that the movie made by Max and Gabby was to be part of the 33rd Chicago Underground Film Festival, its two screenings immediately sold out. A third was added and, yes, that too sold out.

I can tell you, or warn you — if you are one of those ticket holders expecting a full 12 minutes of Tony — that he has a small part in the film, barely a couple of minutes as one of the backseat passengers in a car driving through the city.

This is his last role in an energetic life and career that saw this child of the western suburbs succeed as a visual artist, gallery owner, radio host, newspaper columnist, author, mentor, muralist … It’s a long list.

And he was no stranger to stages and screens, appearing in such movies as “Primal Fear,” “Philadelphia,” “U.S. Marshals” and a continuing role in the Amazon Prime comedy drama created by Chicago’s Steven Conrad, “Patriot.” (Conrad also has a small part in “Driven.”)

Tony won a Joseph Jefferson Award way back in 1990 for his work in the Prop Thtr’s “Mass Murder” and starred in autobiographical plays — “This Train,” “Stations Lost” and “Nickel History: The Nation of Heat” — at the 16th Street Theater and at the Steppenwolf Garage.

When he was in the hospital last year, he was planning to get back on stage with a play based on his latest book. As he talked to friends about that, he also excitedly talked about what would become “Driven,” telling a friend, “The kids even found a part for their old man.”

In the hundreds, maybe thousands, of conversations I had with Tony over the more than four decades of our friendship, hardly one went by without a mention of the kids. He shared their accomplishments, activities and, yes, minor teenage troubles with a sense of excitement.

Max and Gabby are the “Driven” screenwriters, with the aid of Caleb Sanabria. And the siblings — with Max, 34, older by three years — are the directors. “I have been writing for a long time,” Gabby told me. “When Max first showed me a script, based on a story he had written, he asked me to collaborate. And during the whole filmmaking process, he was teaching me everything he learned at Columbia.”

Columbia College Chicago is where Max earned a degree in cinematic arts and sciences. He worked in the industry here and surely benefited from the time he spent on location for “Patriot” during weeks of filming in Paris.

“Driven” is visually striking, filled with Chicago images, from rusted “L” tracks and Ed Paschke’s vivid murals (he was one of Tony’s heroes and mentors) to Diversey Rock ’n’ Bowl and Heart O’ Chicago Motel. The haunting soundtrack is the work of another friend and fan of Tony’s, acclaimed saxophonist Frank Catalano. There are nods to such films as, naturally, “Taxi Driver,” and surprisingly, “The French Connection.”

There is already talk of having more screenings or finding a new home on some streaming service. But there is no doubt that this short film can serve as an impressive calling card to producers with deep pockets.

For the time being, the kids are quite pleased. And so is their mother, Michele, who says, “I have always been proud of them; Tony too. And now I can say I’m happy for them too, and I know Tony would be so happy.”

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