Tributes have been paid across the optical sector following the death on December 23 2017 of Brian Mitchell FCA FRSA, Master of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers 2000-2001, Honorary Fellow of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians and a former director/trustee of ABDO, ABDO College, the Institute of Optometry and Vision Aid Overseas Ltd.
In his working life, Mitchell was a senior partner of accounting firm KPMG, practising both in the US and the UK. He joined the Spectacle Makers’ Company as a Freeman in 1984 and was clothed as of the Livery in 1986. When he retired in 1990, he was able to increase his involvement in a number of charities and his experience was widely sought out, not least by the Court of the Spectacle Makers’ Company.
Over his years on the Court, as chairman of the finance committee, he revolutionised the finances of the Company and its Education and Examination Fund (which became the WCSM Education Trust) and was a key figure in the establishment of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers’ Charity.
He worked hard in building relationships with colleges, professional bodies and associations. They, in turn, valued his expertise and his wise counsel, resulting in recognition within optometry and dispensing optics for someone who always maintained his admiration for those seeking to improve eye health. He commented in a letter in 2001, ‘I am a “layman”, for whom spectacles have been an essential support for nearly sixty years. I sometimes wonder if you, who spend your working lives in optics and ophthalmics, always remember just how important you are to so many patients like myself.’
A member of one optical body said ‘Brian was a generous mentor, a source of reassurance to younger colleagues and a great supporter when I took on a new role.’ The Master of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers, Felicity Harding, said: ‘I learned so much from Brian, both at Vision Aid Overseas and in his work for the Company and the Spectacle Makers’ Charity. He was so generous with his time and will be missed by all of us within the Livery.’
Mr Mitchell was 82.