Dr. Anne Ream, a Houston optometrist, was inducted as an inaugural member of the Missouri Optometry Hall of Fame on Dec. 11.
Ream was a member of the first UMSL College of Optometry Class of 1984, the first woman to serve as president of the Missouri Optometric Association and a tireless advocate for Missouri optometry.
She opened her office at 112 Pine St., which is still in business today, in October of 1990 in the old Scheets Hardware building. At the time, she had offices in West Plains and Mountain View.
Ream — the only living and female recipient of the award — was joined by Dr. Bob Koetting and Thomas Koetting, sons of Dr. Robert A. Koetting, and Frank Fontana, the son of Dr. Frank Fontana, who accepted the awards on behalf of their fathers.
Ream’s father was an optometrist, and she grew up around the local optometric community — her family even planned vacations around optometric conventions — so she was well-aware of the impact of her fellow honorees from an early age.
“This is a big honor, and this is pretty rich company,” Ream said to the crowd. “What made these honorees larger than life was they did more for other lives, too. Dr. DeClue was really instrumental in the civil rights movement. For years, he gave of himself and really made a big difference both nationally and locally. He was a humanitarian. He put his money where his mouth was. He walked the walk and talked the talk.”
The Hall of Fame is a collaboration between UMSL’s College of Optometry and the Missouri Optometric Association.
Founded in 1901, the Missouri Optometric Association aims to represent the optometric profession to government, third parties and the public; to promote continued optometric education; to assist members in conducting successful practices with the highest standards of patient care and efficiency; and to improve the quality, availability and accessibility of eye and vision care.