" I AM: Proud"--Dr. James Tribbett: a Man We Were Proud to Call a Friend

Ed.: Doc Tribbett was one of The Expression's first and loyal supporters and contributors. We could count on him to submit a piece of writing or photograph whenever we sent out a "call for submissions."  It didn't take him long to respond to the "I AM: Proud" Call to Writers with his biography. And so, it is my pleasure to share an account of his life in his own words; Boyertown is proud that Doc Tribbett made Boyertown his home. RIP, Doc. 

by Dr. James Tribbett

Jim was born in Ridgely, Md. He was small and bald. All of his relatives are from that area with the grandparents on neighboring farms. His parents moved to New Castle, DE for employment. Jim attended New Castle High School, worked in the “Doghouse” serving hot dogs, burgers, steak sandwiches, and hoagies. He attended the University of Delaware. He married in March 1963 and welcomed daughter #1 in Jan. 1964. He moved to Los Angeles, CA for two years, then returned east to attend the PA College of Optometry.

After serving as class president for the last two years at Pennsylvania College of Optometry, Dr. Tribbett established his office in Boyertown after surveying opportunities in four states. He liked the town setting, varied employment for the residents, and the reputation of the school district. One daughter, age 5, and wife came along and soon two other daughters were born. So, August 19,1969, saw the birth of a new office to provide eye care services.

The technology began changing almost immediately with the development of soft contact lenses in 1972. Updates in education and technology continues right up until today, and the addition of the Optomap in 2005 was an exciting adjunct for patient services. Unbelievable! And the technology offered by computers had increased so that Electronic Medical Records are now normal. Dr. Tribbett has always served his patients with honesty, fairness, and competency being the ruling guidelines. He feels fortunate to have been able to serve such wonderful patients.

In addition, public service is evidenced by membership in the Lions Club of Boyertown, Board of Directors of the Boyertown Lions Community Ambulance Service, Board of Directors of the United Way, and many committees in these organizations and other community activity. He is proud of chairing the Christmas lighting and banner programs, and served as Lions president for five terms He also served the local and state optometric associations by going through the chairs and serving as president of each. In 1988 a trip to Bohodukhiv, Ukraine via Sister Cities allowed him and a colleague to provide vision services to needy residents. Dr. Tribbett also served as a proctor for Optometric National Board clinical testing for 20 years, the last two being in Puerto Rico. In August of 2011, Dr. Tribbett journeyed to Haiti with three other optometrists and a support team of nine to provide eye and vision care; 1500 people were served in five days. He returned to Haiti in May of 2012 to continue that service, and two more since then. He has also journeyed to Guatamala twice and Costa Rica to provide eyeglasses for the needy. All were very interesting.

In 2010, Dr. Tribbett found Dr. Cara Reitnauer to share in the practice and bring more service and continuing updates. She is a stellar doctor of whom he is very proud. After Dr. Reitnauer bought the practice in 2013, she hired another young lady, Dr. Erin Evans, in 2017. Retirement finally showed its teeth at the end of 2020. Dr. Tribbett served full time when the ladies were on maternity leave three times. Perhaps another optometrist is among them.

Dr. Tribbett has three daughters; in California, Colorado, and Texas, five grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.

He is very happy and busy with sports, playing his guitar and banjo, produced two CD’s, plays cards, visits friends, and reads.

Life has been very good, and he is very thankful for his health. He is married to Kitty Wiand Reese Tribbett since 2013 who has a daughter in Gilbertsville with two children. It is sunny every day.

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