David Wolkowsky

David William Wolkowsky (August 25, 1919 – September 23, 2018) was a real estate developer from Key West, Florida. He is credited with transforming the city from a navy town to a tourist destination.

Biography Early life and family

David Wolkowsky's grandfather, Abraham Wolkowsky, was a Russian Jewish immigrant who moved to Key West in 1886, where he initially worked as a peddler and eventually operated businesses including clothing stores, furniture stores, and saloons. He had two sisters: Edna Wolkowsky (died 2006) and Ruth W. Greenfield (1923-2023), a musician and social activist in Miami. Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, a photographer and filmmaker, is his nephew.

Philanthropy In 2000, Wolkowsky created a Teacher Merit Awards fund, which gives $5,000 to each of nine Key West teachers as well as a $25,000 award to a single teacher each year; the fund continues after his death.

Wolkowsky's collection of Tennessee Williams paintings were exhibited at the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. His art collection was gifted to the Key West Historical Society upon his death.

Personal life He enjoyed driving a 1926 Rolls-Royce.

Wolkowsky rented his bamboo-covered waterfront trailer to Truman Capote, who wanted to spend the winter in Key West. Capote's Answered Prayers was written there. Discarded handwritten pages were often given to Wolkowsky by Capote. Years later, the papers were reportedly stolen from Wolkowsky's penthouse apartment, high atop Key West's former S. H. Kress & Co. five and dime. Wolkowsky had restored the building, renting out the ground floor to department store "Fast Buck Freddies" and the upper floors to the Key West Parole Department.