At Aviva, the senior living facility where he’s resided for the past two years, Joe Floersheimer is best known by his nickname: “Joe Shoes.” Floersheimer earned the moniker decades ago when he was working as a project manager overseeing the installation of electrical systems in New York City highrises. He would supervise between 100 and 150 workers, and one time, an employee couldn’t remember his last name, but did remember that it was similar to Florsheim, the shoe manufacturer. “Some young construction worker forgot my name and said, ‘Hey, Joe Shoes,’ and it’s been like that for 60 years,” Floersheimer says. (For the record, he has no family connection to the shoemaker.)

Floersheimer, who is Jewish, was born in 1930 in Germany. His family fled the Nazis and arrived in New York when he was 10. He later joined the Army and spent two years in Korea, running a commissary and showing movies to officers. (He just so happened to be a licensed projectionist.) After returning home, he enrolled in college to study architecture, but dropped out. “I hated it,” he says. “There was no action—just drawing lines and circles.”

That’s how he got into construction, and how he ended up spending 50 years helping build the New York City skyline. When it was time to retire in 1995, Floersheimer and his wife Lee, a financial consultant for American Express, chose Sarasota’s Palm Aire community. Lee died 12 years ago and Floersheimer lived alone for a decade before moving into Aviva, where he stays as active as ever. He swims daily, plays tennis two or three times a week and still drives and rides a bike. He met his current girlfriend, Michele, at a New Year’s Eve dance.

He learned about Aviva long before he moved in, and volunteered there for years, teaching computer literacy classes to seniors. He still loves to put together PowerPoint presentations, but admits, “I don’t have anyone to show them to.” He’s also a magician, and enjoys surprising dinner companions with card tricks. “I can’t just sit,” he says.