Obituary: Graeme Curtis

Paul Rose CNZM27 February 20254 min read

Paul Rose and Graeme Curtis at the CCLS conference in 2021

It is a great honour to write this obituary for Graeme Curtis, director of the Corneal Lens Corporation (CLC), who died peacefully surrounded by his family on 9 January at Nurse Maude Hospice, Christchurch, after a 12-month battle with cancer.

Over the last 25 years, I had the privilege of knowing Graeme both as colleague and friend and we shared some very memorable times at conferences in Australasia and around the world.

My first contact with the Curtis family goes back to the ‘70s when CLC was producing its conoid lens design and Ed Curtis was the sole and very enthusiastic owner of the company. In the late ‘80s, a phone call from Ed revealed he’d just installed the latest DAC computer lathe, the first of its kind in New Zealand, so CLC could produce high-quality, very-repeatable rigid lenses, changing our relationship into a commercial one.

Ed was aware I was attempting to design a lens for keratoconus, but because most of the secondary curves were applied by hand, it was impossible to get any consistency, so I’d given up trying. The new DAC CNC lathe changed that completely and, within a year of working with CLC, I had completed my Rose K lens design, now available in 96 countries. So I will always be very grateful to CLC for assisting me in those early Rose K-design days.

Graeme acquired CLC (NZ) and CLCA (Australia) in 2000/2001. Back then the company had around 16 staff but given his vision for the company, his drive and his business acumen, he expanded staff numbers to 26 and turned CLC into one of the most modern contact lens laboratories in Australasia.

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Over the last 30 years, I have visited contact lens laboratories in many countries, so I understand what a huge asset CLC is for Kiwi practitioners and their patients. We are very fortunate to have this outstanding facility available for a population of just 5.3 million people. Under Graeme’s guidance, CLC’s dedicated team didn’t just provide quality lenses, they also provided seminars and fitting advice. Nothing ever seemed to be too much trouble for them and, as designs became more complicated, Graeme made sure he updated his lab technology and equipment to allow CLC to supply just about any lens design and geometry practitioners could possibly want. He also travelled extensively overseas to learn about new developments to ensure CLC remained a world-leading contact lens laboratory.

Graeme’s unwavering commitment to eyecare in New Zealand was legendary. He built long-lasting relationships with customers, suppliers and colleagues worldwide. He was an inspiration for many in the contact lens industry ensuring CLC and his legacy will live on through the work of CLC’s dedicated staff, many of whom have worked with Graeme since he acquired the business. For me, a quote from a recent communication I had with Nicola, a long-serving CLC staff member, says it all: “Graeme was a great boss and friend to us and he will be greatly missed by many of the staff who have worked for him for years. He always had an open-door policy in which we could just go see him and chat, not always about work. He was always interested and spent the time to talk and see how you were.”

You will be missed, Graeme, but I am confident that your staff will remain committed to upholding the high standards and values that you instilled in them. RIP.

Paul Rose CNZM is a Hamilton-based optometrist and inventor of the Rose K family of lenses for irregular cornea. He was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) in the 2017 New Year’s Honours list and was awarded the prestigious Contact Lens Manufacturers Association’s Dr Josef Dallos Award in 2022.