Wellington optometrist Peter Turner recently retired from a long and successful career in New Zealand optometry.

Turner spent the last 10 years of his career with the Matthews’ group and his contribution to the group and optometry in general was duly celebrated on 11 December at the Sangster & Matthews practice in Wellington. Both the Wellington and Kapiti Matthews teams, Phil and Lynley Matthews, optometrists and ophthalmologists in the region and Graeme Curtis from Corneal Lens Corporation attended the event. “We were delighted to have some of Peter’s family members present and some of his patients, a few of whom have been with him for over 40 years,” said Matthews’ Michelle Diez. “It was a lovely evening rich in history and a celebration of a truly innovative man.”

Talking to NZ Optics, Turner said an optometry career wasn’t his first choice but the result of his father’s friendship with Maurice Wear of Barry Stouppe & Wear, who was in need of assistance. Father and friend, both full of optimism, successfully steered the young Turner in the direction of optometry. But Turner said he couldn’t let go of his earlier engineering dreams entirely, so during his long and memorable career, he dived in and out of optometry combining it with working as a technician at the aerospace research station at Rolleston and holding several different engineering roles with S. Hindin & Sons before joining Corneal Lens Corporation as New Zealand manager. At the time, CLC was based in Wellington and Turner, working with Ed Curtis, Graeme’s father, dismantled the Wellington lab and re-established it in Christchurch.

In the end though, Turner returned to optometry and said he was pleased by how things worked out, adding he had a lot of fun and particularly enjoyed the more challenging experiences “applying visual science to human problems”.

Michelle Diez, on behalf of the Matthews group, said Peter’s innovation and leadership has helped shape optometry in New Zealand. “Peter is a guru with contact lenses, with a real desire to help his patients see better and for their lenses to be as comfortable as they can be. He continuously strives to be better for their benefit. He is generous with his knowledge and his time, and he loves teaching and sharing what he learns. We will genuinely miss working with Peter, his determination, his stories and just hearing him laugh in the practice.”

At the celebration, Turner was presented with a Life Time Member award of the Cornea & Contact Lens Society in recognition of outstanding contributions to the Society by Eleisha Dudson on behalf of CCLS president Jagrut Lallu.