People Profiles

Former Coconut Creek commissioner and state representative Jim Waldman remembers what makes Creek special When Jim Waldman was dropping off his daughter for her first day of school at Winston Park Elementary in 1992, he noticed that the school was overcrowded with portables. Then naïve about politics, the attorney saw it as a sign that Coconut

• The tangible passion that Ana Calderon Randazzo brings to her role at Children’s Diagnostic & Treatment Center can be measured any number of ways using time as the yardstick. Like the 29 years she’s worked at CDTC, the past three as executive director. Or the snapshot tours of the Fort Lauderdale-based facility she no

• Although Harold Leighton is 85, retirement is the furthest thing from his mind. The London native, now living in Boca, has been a prominent figure in the hair industry for nearly seven decades. His star-studded résumé includes credits as an inventor, trendsetter, photographer and author of three books—the most recent, From Salon to Celebrity:

For someone who was plucked from obscurity to play a pivotal role in the film that just won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Patrick Decile sure manages to keep things real—especially when it comes to the phone call that might lead to his next job. Asked about the doors he hopes will open in

• In a video posted to Facebook on the last day of January, Rocco Mangel, seemingly the picture of health in a fitted white Henley shirt, handed his daughter, Charley, who turns 4 on April 24, some printed cue cards to hold up to the camera. He beamed as the blonde, curly-haired child raised them

After retiring, most employees feel the urge to get as far away from their former workplace as possible. But not Ann Humphreys. Six years after officially calling it a career, Humphreys is still teaching (only now as a substitute) at Coconut Creek High School, where she worked full time from 1973 to 2011. “It’s in

1 What was the transition from dean to president like? There are two big differences that I have found interesting (Frenk became the sixth UM president in August 2015). One is the scope. At Harvard, I was dean of the school of public health, and public health is my specialty. … It was a focused approach.

Theresa Caputo is accustomed to the questions, but the answers never change. No, she can’t see into the future. No, she can’t predict which Powerball numbers will hit. And no, she doesn’t have a crystal ball. The Long Island Medium says that’s the world of psychics. “I’m Theresa Caputo, and I talk to the dead,”

Grant Dodrill reaches a national fencing milestone—at age 12 During a family trip to Italy in the summer of 2012, Jim Dodrill enrolled his son and daughter in a gladiator course, where they practiced sword-fighting. His youngest child, Grant, fell in love with the activity, and, after they returned, Grant joined an after-school sword-fighting group

Executive chef, owner and consultant, Ortanique Restaurants 1 How did you get started in the restaurant business? I never went to culinary school. I was really thrown into the restaurant business in November of 1994 by my partner, Delius Shirley. I had always loved cooking, and at the time I was between jobs. He asked me if I

• It’s been six years since a bullying incident during band class left Rebecca Zerbo crying in a middle-school bathroom. That night, the Boca Raton resident went home and wrote messages of positivity to keep in her back pocket. Whenever she felt down, she reached for one of the sayings and read the encouraging words.

Founders of South Florida Matchmakers 1 How did you two get into matchmaking? Nancy: We’ve been friends for a long time—35 years—and talked about getting into business together. And matchmaking seemed logical, given my history as a relationship coach and doing counseling for 25 years in a private practice, working with people on relationship issues and