Remembering Virgil Deering

Virgil Deering is remembered for his dedication to the Iowa Optometric Association (IOA) and the profession of optometry.         

Deering retired from the IOA in 1999 after nearly three decades of service. He passed away Aug. 5 at the age of 90.

“Virg Deering was a true legend and pioneer in Iowa for the initial advancement of the profession,” says Gary Ellis, executive director of the IOA. “He was instrumental in bringing diagnostic and therapeutic privileges to doctors of optometry in Iowa in the late 1970s and 1980s.

“Being one of the first states to accomplish this, he and other Iowa doctors of optometry led the charge nationally to assist other states in gaining these privileges,” Ellis adds. “Virg served in many capacities within the AOA volunteer structure during his tenure and as a mentor to many state executive directors.”

Deering was born in Minnesota and earned a degree in teaching from St. Cloud State Teachers College. Afterward, he began teaching, played and coached sports, and married Nancy Joan Hammond. The family moved to Iowa in 1959 for a job in pharmaceutical sales before he landed with the IOA. Married 68 years, they have four children and five grandchildren.

Making his mark as a mentor

Aside from supporting the IOA in elevating scope in the state, Deering mentored a number of executive directors.

Lee Ann Barrett, O.D., executive director of the Missouri Optometric Association (MOA), was one of those—indirectly. Dr. Barrett was mentored by Ellis, who in turn was mentored by Deering.

Before she became executive director, Dr. Barrett served in the MOA leadership structure and met him at meetings.

“Virgil was a great ED and was influential in passing legislation,” she says. “Although he retired before I became ED, I was able to take advantage of his ‘teaching’ because I relied on Virgil's successor, Gary Ellis, as one of my mentors.

Roger Jordan, O.D., a longtime and effective advocate for the profession, witnessed his mentoring up close.

“I met Virg through my executive director, the late Dan Lex, at AOA meetings starting in the ’80s,” Dr. Jordan says. “Virgil had Iowa legislatively moving right along. He took our executive director under his wing and helped develop Dan into one of the best in the country for a long time. He was a great representative for Iowa and optometry. He will be missed.”

The Tennessee House of Representatives recognized Deering’s contributions with a resolution upon his retirement. He was cited for:

• Establishing a grassroots legislative effort by organizing area legislative meetings throughout the state’s 14 districts. “These efforts eventually gave optometrists in Iowa one of the broadest practice acts in the nation,” it read.
• Being “instrumental in the passage of DPA (diagnostic pharmaceutical agents) legislation in 1979 and TPA (therapeutic pharmaceutical agents) in 1985—benefiting doctors and patients—and leading other states to follow.

The personable Deering was so admired that the North Central States Optometric Council sponsored an award to honor his accomplishments and memory. It goes to executive directors.

The award has been presented annually to a state optometric executive director since 2000 at the AOA Congress at Optometry’s Meeting^®.

The Virgil Deering Optometric Executive Director award recognizes a state optometric executive director for their dedicated, capable leadership and support that state optometric associations receive from their executive directors.

“Being a previous recipient of the award holds special meaning to me having known him,” Dr. Barrett says.

In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to the IOWA Foundation—Impactful Opportunities with Athletes.