When Dr. John Handwerker and his wife Dr. Alma Trappolini announced their plans to move to Key Biscayne in 1951, their medical colleagues thought they were crazy. Only 350 families lived on the island at that time, and there was just one telephone, located inside Vernon\u2019s drugstore.<\/p>\n
Perhaps it was the winds of fate that blew them here. Dr. Handwerker had been working as an intern at Jackson Memorial Hospital. During a rare break from his duties, he visited the beach at Crandon Park and ran into the Mackle brothers, who were building houses on the island. When he learned that the nascent community didn\u2019t have a doctor yet, he decided then and there that he was the man for the job.<\/p>\n
John and Alma were hard-working and possessed a sense of adventure. They met in medical school at the University of Tennessee in Memphis, where he had passed the entrance exam despite having never finished high school nor graduated college. She became the first woman to complete a residency in surgery at Jackson.<\/p>\n
Dr. Handwerker\u2019s first office was located in the shopping center. Patients used to get ahold of him the old-fashioned way, by leaving a note on his door. He once remarked that in the early days he had probably delivered half the children on the island.<\/p>\n
Ask anyone who knew Dr. Handwerker and they\u2019ll tell you he was more than just the island\u2019s doctor. He was gregarious and a pillar of the community in many ways, having served as president of the Chamber of Commerce, Commodore at the Yacht Club, the first president of the Key Biscayne Lions Club, a founder of St. Agnes Church \u2013 the list goes on. He was a supporter of youth sports programs and once commented that his most important contribution to island life may have been helping to found the Key Biscayne Athletic Club.<\/p>\n
In recognition of his service and commitment to the Key, he appeared as the Grand Marshal of the Fourth of July Parade for over twenty years. He dressed as Uncle Sam, donning red-and-white striped pants, a blue jacket, a red satin vest, and a top hat. With his tall frame and shock of white hair, he looked the part.<\/p>\n
Key resident Rafael \u201cTuty\u201d Portella M.D. describes Dr. Handwerker as a legend. \u201cHe truly exemplified what it meant to be a physician and family doctor. He single-handedly took care of the medical problems that arose on this island, 24\/7, for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Handwerker used crutches to walk \u2014 a result of a bone infection suffered as a boy \u2014 but he never let that slow him down. He enjoyed playing golf and riding his chrome-plated Schwinn Paramount bicycle. He and Alma loved living on Key Biscayne and raised their children Susan and Mark here. He continued practicing medicine on the Key until his untimely death in 1988. She was active with the Music and Drama Club for many years, retired from medicine in 1985, and passed away in 2020.<\/p>\n