Monroe County commissioner was popular restaurateur
In the weeks after officials in the Florida Keys shut down the island chain because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mike Forster began mobilizing to feed those he knew would be among the most in need: Restaurant workers.
Starting with organizing a shipment of 10,000 pounds of meat from frozen-food giant Cargill Protein for Keys food banks in April 2020, Forster then began offering free meals to servers, bartenders, cooks, bussers and other Keys wait staff out of his popular Islamorada eatery, Mangrove Mike’s.
“Unfortunately, I think we’ll have a very good turnout,” Forster said just days before he was set to launch the service.
That effort led to a larger endeavor of creating a nonprofit to feed those in need in the 120-mile-long archipelago, which was starved of tourism, its number one industry.
Early Monday morning, Forster, 61, succumbed to pneumonia caused by COVID-19, his friend Tony Hammon said.
“Mike left this earth at 4:15 this morning,” Hammon posted on his Facebook page.
Forster was was serving as a Monroe County commissioner. He served five terms on the Islamorada Village Council and was mayor twice.
Born in Virginia Beach, Forster grew up in South Florida and attended Gulliver Preparatory Academy in Kendall. He moved to the Keys in 1990 and managed and owned several restaurants before opening Mangrove Mike’s.
He was one of the Keys’ most popular leaders in the hospitality industry and even more so for his charitable efforts in raising money for those who were sick, or the families of community members who had died, or when the area was hard hit by hurricanes and COVID-19.
“Islamorada loses one of the kindest most loving members of the community. He was a friend to all and gave back everything he could to those in need. He will be missed dearly,” Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a former U.S. congresswoman whose district included the Keys, wrote on social media on Monday.
Monroe County Mayor Michelle Coldiron released the following statement:
“Mike passionately gave his all to the Florida Keys. He fed everyone with food, with love, with encouragement, with positive words, and with hugs. He considered us all one Keys family. Mike never said, ‘we can’t do it,’ but always ‘let’s figure out how we can.’ He passionately fought for all to have a quality of life to sustain living in the Keys with housing, fair wages, and protection of the environment. He showed his love for the Keys environment and people with all of his heart and soul. Rest in Peace, my friend.”
Forster accompanied Hammon, who is pastor emeritus at Island Community Church in Islamorada, on several missions to
Uganda.
Hammon said Uganda became another calling to Foster. He began a program to provide shoes to poor children in the African nation.
“We put shoes on children who never had shoes on their feet before,” Hammon told the Miami Herald/FLKeysnews.com Monday.
Hammon kept the Keys informed of Forster’s condition almost daily ever since he was transferred from Mariners Hospital in Tavernier on Aug. 20 to Baptist Hospital in Kendall, where he was placed on a ventilator and sedated two days later.
Forster, who was vaccinated, according to his family and friends, showed signs of improvement as the days went on. However, last Wednesday, Hammon told his followers that the situation took a turn for the worse. Forster still required 100% oxygen from the ventilator and continued to be sedated.
“That means his lungs have been severely damaged,” Hammon wrote on Sept 1.
Soon after news of Forster’s death broke, tributes on social media were nonstop.
“I am speechless and heartbroken this morning.
MIKE PASSIONATELY GAVE HIS ALL TO THE FLORIDA KEYS. HE FED EVERYONE WITH FOOD, WITH LOVE, WITH ENCOURAGEMENT, WITH POSITIVE WORDS, AND WITH HUGS.
Monroe County Mayor Michelle Coldiron
My True friend, community leader and Mr. Everything passed away this morning from complications after a battle with COVID,” Bobby Dube, an officer and spokesman with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in the Keys, wrote. “The Keys will never be the same! This man had the biggest heart and ALWAYS gave back to our community — high school, fund raisers, fishing tournaments, etc. He was especially supportive of all law enforcement and first responders and his generosity over the years was over the Top. RIP Mangrove Mike!”