Theo Gumpelmayer

Our Treasurer, DAVID RAZ-RHODES reports: –

‘On Thursday 25th October 2007 in the Martin Luther Church in Linz Austria we said our last goodbyes to our friend colleague and ISCLS Secretary, Dr Theo Gumpelmayer.

Hermann Anhalm, Armin Duddek, David and Jill Evershed-Martin, Bruno and Trude Miller, David and Ella Raz-Rhodes and Ivan Wainer, were amongst the 420 people who assembled in the modest Church for the funeral.  Karola his wife, Peter and Barbara his children by his first wife Helga (who was also there with the family), and his grandchildren were all by the coffin and stood patiently and quietly waiting whilst the stream of mourners came to pay their respects.

There were so many that the service which was due to start at 3.0 p.m could only get under way at 3.20.

The Church was full and even the upstairs gallery was used so that everyone could get a seat.

The coffin was surrounded by many, many beautiful wreaths from organisations and friend which showed visually and movingly just what an influence Theo had had in academic, scientific, optometric and optical life.

The personal aspect of the Service were the eulogies given by representatives of organisations that Theo had been involved in and David Evershed -Martin gave his as our representative and also as representative of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers   Theo had been made a Freeman when David was the Master of the Company.

David had known Theo since they were students together in 1960 at City University.

David was able to give the first and the last paragraph in German which I am sure was appreciated by all.  In his reminiscences he reminded us all of Theo’s laugh and of the time he got a shock from a microphone at one of our meetings which threw him off the stage.

An hour and a half later we all filed out into the grey and damp Linz air but were invited by the family to a nearby restaurant for an early supper……………and so life continues and goes on but we are the poorer for not having Theo by our side.’

As David Raz-Rhodes said David Evershed -Martin was honoured to be asked by the Gumpulmayer family to give a eulogy in the church to honour Theo. The ISCLS also sent a beautiful floral tribute in the colours of the ISCLS and the church was full to bursting point. The following was what David said: –

‘‘I am here to honour Theo, a friend and colleague for 45 years. I am also here to represent the Spectacle Makers Company of London and the International Society of Contact Lens Specialists.

We sang, last Sunday, in Chichester Cathedral, which Theo and Helga knew from my wedding to Jill to which he came in 1971, ‘Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart’. This hymn is used at the Spectacle Makers Charter Day service and seemed so appropriate at this time, for Theo was a visionary.

I came to Linz in my year as Master in 1995, to grant Theo the honour of being our first overseas Freeman of the Spectacle Makers Society. He eventually became a Freeman of the City of London and also a Liveryman of the Company of Spectacle Makers of London in 1999.

He entered into the life of the Livery with his usual enthusiasm and was present, with Karola, this year at the Mansion House for the Livery Dinner.

Vision was his life. From the days when we studied together at City University in London we have been close friends. His vision was of the ‘profession’ of optometry rather than the craft.

His energy and determination to achieve results in so many worlds was admired by many, bewildered some and upset a few.

He gathered knowledge and spread it to all who would listen, from Europe to Africa and beyond. He was foremost in promoting, with others, the European Diploma of Optometry. His son, Peter, is one of the first to earn it, which must have given Theo great pleasure.

His vision of contact lenses had been his abiding interest. He used his energy, his resourcefulness and his scientific knowledge to further contact lens research. He impressed me by taking me to the Seibersdorf  reactor near Vienna when his was doing his PhD on DNA irradiation.

He was the powerhouse of the International Society of Contact Lens Specialists. This is a 50-year-old society and it restricts its full membership to 60 members worldwide. Theo was a member for 40 years. He had been a notable President and he was a great conference organiser as we found in Salzburg at our meeting last year. He had been honoured with the Herschel Medal.

There are many members here from Austria, Switzerland, Germany and France.

The only time he was really lost for words was when at a conference he touched a microphone that was live in all senses of the word. He received a shock and vanished behind the podium. Thankfully, he rose again unharmed.

Now, we are the ones in shock, which has been profound and deeply distressing to all, who knew him. Our thoughts today are with his wife Karola who was alongside Theo at all times. She was a true soul mate who made him relax with a happy home, visits to theatres and concerts and holidays, even in Mongolia.

Jill, Justin and I remember him for his visits to London and, when tired, the time he fell asleep in a restaurant while eating, his love of red wine, Cheddar cheese, visits to Stanley Gibbons to add to his stamp collection and his interest in model trains.

We, from all his different worlds, thank his family: Karola, Peter’s family and Barbara for sharing him with us for so many years. A recent memory on the occasion of his 70th Birthday party, 1½ years ago, was his energy on the dance floor, which left us all gasping.

My son, Justin, when he heard of Theo’s passing, said, “the world will be a sadder place without him”. We will miss his infectious laugh, which could be heard across any crowded room.

‘Auf wiedersehn’, my friend Theo. We all salute you and your life and achievements.’’