Retired Rome optometrist Dr. Jack Runninger says he just might borrow a line from the late comedian Jack Benny as he is inducted into the National Optometry Hall of Fame today.
“I’m certain I don’t deserve this, but I have arthritis and I don’t deserve that either,” Runninger said, expressing modesty about the honor.
Runninger, 83, practiced optometry in Rome for more than 40 years and has been actively involved in state and national professional organizations, including service as the editor of the Southern Journal of Optometry, Optometric Management and Optometric Economics. He continues to serve as a consulting editor of Optometric Management.
The National Optometry Hall of Fame includes about 40 members now and is inducting seven more today as part of an educational convention in Cleveland, Ohio.
“I’m the first ever chosen from the state of Georgia,” Runninger said. “That was quite flattering.”
Born and raised in Aurora, Ill., Runninger served in the U.S. Navy during World War II near Iwo Jima, before attending and graduating from the Southern College of Optometry in Memphis in 1947.
He moved to Rome in 1948 and practiced here his entire career, before retiring in the early 1990s.
More than 400 articles and columns written by Runninger have appeared in professional journals. He has also written for publications including “Popular Science,” “Modern Maturity” and “Golf Digest,” and he has published books including “You’ll Do Great, If You Communicate” and “Going to Paris, Pack a Lunch.”
In 2004, he won a first-place award in the Georgia Press Association’s annual newspaper contest for his humor column in the Rome News-Tribune.
