Headlines

Custom Contact Lens Pioneer Dies at 74

Published

5 years ago

September 18, 2018

He served as president of Art Optical.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Thomas E. Anastor, who served as president of Art Optical Contact Lens Inc. from 1967 to 2013, has died following an extended illness.

He was 74.

After taking the helm of his father’s lens manufacturing company, Anastor dedicated more than 50 years to the ophthalmic industry. As a producer of GP and custom soft lenses, Art Optical grew under Anastor’s direction from a regional laboratory to a leader serving eyecare
practitioners worldwide.

Anastor “became a pioneer in contact lens manufacturing in the late 50s and dedicated the next 5 decades to building the organization,” according to his obituary.

“Thanks to his tenacious work ethic, the company is now an industry leader recognized for providing sight-saving technology to millions of patients around the world,” the obituary continues.

He was the recipient of several state and national industry awards, including the 2008 Trailblazer Award presented by the Contact Lens Manufacturers Association.

Art Optical Contact Lens, founded in 1931, describes itself as “an independently owned and operated company serving ophthalmic professionals world-wide with custom contact lenses made to exacting standards for the correction of refractive errors including myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and presbyopia, as well as the management of a broad array of irregular corneal conditions.”

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