He’s got his eye on you!
Frank Charles Bower kept his eye on the eyes of hundreds of patients from Humboldt and around the province. He opened Humboldt’s first “optical parlour” in 1931 on the west side of the 500 block of Main Street and served the community until his retirement in 1968.
Here’s looking at you, Frank
Shortly after he was born in Wellman, Iowa on March 27, 1900, Frank and his family moved to Rouleau, Saskatchewan where he spent his childhood and early adulthood. He played baseball and hockey, and spent a short time in the Royal Canadian Air Force reserve until he was discharged at the age of 18.
In Rouleau, he met and married Inez Rumble in 1923. Inez would later have a brush with fame as a composer and musician. They had two sons, Duane and Dennis.
Frank graduated from the Central Technical School in Toronto, Department of Optometry in 1924 and received his professional certificate from the Saskatchewan Optometry Association in 1925.
Optometry-to-go
Frank Bower spent the next few years of his professional life as an “optometrist-to-go”, travelling around southern Saskatchewan providing optometry services to small rural communities. Even after he set up his own practice based in Humboldt in 1931, he continued to visit smaller surrounding communities to provide care for his patients who couldn’t travel to visit him at his office.
“Mr. Bower comes to Humboldt well recommended as an optometrist and sight specialist, and we feel sure he will receive a hearty welcome.”
– Humboldt Journal, August 6, 1931
Humboldt Journal ad from August 6, 1931, announcing the opening of F.C. Bower’s optical parlour.
Exterior street view of Frank C. Bower’s office on the west side of the 500 block of Main Street
All eyes were on him
Mercedes Smith was in grade 3 in 1953 and remembers getting her very first pair of glasses from Frank C. Bower, and was a patient of his until 1958. She recalls her parents also getting glasses from Frank, and, as he was the only optometrist in town when she was growing up, she was sure that “hundreds, and perhaps even thousands of people go their glasses from him.”
Not only did Frank serve the Humboldt community as a professional, but also by donating his time as a member of the Shriners, the Masonic Lodge, the Lions Club and as a town councillor in the early 1940s. He also spent considerable time and resources supporting his wife, Inez Bower, in her music career. His son Dennis remembers that “he willingly placed himself in the background and was content to enjoy from a distance her brush with fame.”
After the tragic car accident that caused the untimely and tragic death of Inez, Frank remarried in 1968. He and his second wife Theresa Kohlen moved to Victoria B.C. where he passed away January 30, 1979.
F.C. Bower at work in his optometry office.
Not only did Frank serve the Humboldt community as a professional, but also by donating his time as a member of the Shriners, the Masonic Lodge, the Lions Club and as a town councillor in the early 1940s. He also spent considerable time and resources supporting his wife, Inez Bower, in her music career. His son Dennis remembers that “he willingly placed himself in the background and was content to enjoy from a distance her brush with fame.”
After the tragic car accident that caused the untimely and tragic death of Inez, Frank remarried in 1968. He and his second wife Theresa Kohlen moved to Victoria B.C. where he passed away January 30, 1979.
