Letters: May 23

Surrounded by loving family, after a valiant fight against a cruel and vindictive cancer, Austen died aged 77 on May 7 2008. A second generation optometrist, son of Albert Henry (1895-1964) and father of Nick (third generation).

After a short spell in Hamburg where he did National Service, Austen served the profession in practice in Dudley from 1956 until retiring in 1996. He saw NHS optometry emasculated through the 80s and 90s but enjoyed observing its maturing to a level of scope of practice undreamt of during his training.

That said, he taught his son to be one of the few optometrists who could ‘pin a side’ or ‘solder a bridge’ and who knew from where we once rose.