JOSEPH HANDWERGER

HANDWERGER Joseph Handwerger A talented architect and witty raconteur, Joseph Handwerger, 86, died peacefully in his sleep on June 11, 2018 at a hospital in Arlington, VA. The cause was complications from a fall at home. The second son of Bernard and Leah Handwerger, immigrants from Poland, Mr. Handwerger was born on September 27, 1931 in Mobile, Alabama. He was raised in an apartment above his parents' grocery store and attended the University of Alabama on an ROTC scholarship, graduating in 1953. After service in the United States Air Force, Mr. Handwerger received his Master's degree in Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1959. He practiced archi- tecture for a year in Stockholm, Sweden, before moving to Washington, DC and founding Joseph Handwerger Architects. He was involved in numerous embassy enhancement projects around the world for the State Department, including the design of the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Local projects included a modern addition to the Indonesian Embassy in the Walsh-McLean Mansion at 2020 Massachusetts Avenue and the headquarters of Africare in the renovated Morse Elementary School in Shaw. In his review of the Africare building, Washington Post architecture critic Benjamin Forgey noted, "The result is a handsome, indeed a striking, new presence on R Street." Mr. Handwerger spent many summers on Nantucket in a house he designed and built in Madaket. He was a lifelong baseball fan, who loved to take in games at the old Memorial Stadium and Nationals Park, as well as at St. Albans School, where he watched his son and then his grandsons play for the Bulldogs. His first marriage to Gretchen Mann ended in divorce. Survivors include his wife, the garden designer Jane MacLeish; three children from his first marriage, Mark Handwerger, Anne Large, and Sarah Handwerger, all of Washington; two step-children, Ruth Krumbhaar of San Francisco and Fred Krumbhaar of Boulder; and ten grandchildren. A celebration of Mr. Handwerger's life is planned for the fall. Donations in his memory may be made to his favorite charity, Doctors Without Borders www.doctorswithoutborders.org.A celebration of Mr. Handwerger's life is planned for the fall. Donations in his memory may be made to his favorite charity, Doctors Without Borders www.doctorswithoutborders.org.