Correspondent
PLYMOUTH - The city of Plymouth has changed a lot since the days Dr. Robert Vore played football in the open fields just off of North Michigan Street near Centennial Park.
"I remember those football games and Dick and Bob Averill and I riding our bikes all over town," said Vore. "The hospital was there in that field. Plymouth is a really great place to live and a really great place to grow up."
Sports was and continues to be a great diversion for Vore who attended Manchester College and was a key member of the tennis team there that won a conference championship. By his junior year Vore was the team's number one singles player and had an opportunity to take on some big challenges.
"I remember one time when - I think it's Trine University now but then it had a different name - came in to Manchester for a match and I was playing a guy who was a member of the Israeli Davis Cup team," he said. "I really did pretty well, I was beating him after the second set but for some reason before the third set he went in and took a shower. Our coach Bill Sayers was fuming that they let him go take a shower before the third set. Of course he came back and beat me after that, but I guess I must have made him sweat a little bit if he had to take a shower."
Vore graduated with a degree in chemistry and went to work for GE for several years before enrolling in Indiana University's School of Optometry. The rest, as they say, is history, and that history - for Vore - is a long one in caring for others and serving the community.
"My dad was a physician and he gave a lot to his patients," said Vore. "He would stop by people's homes to find out how they were after he'd treated them. I remember he even used to stay all night in some patients homes if they were particularly ill, just to be sure. He was a great example of what it means to care for people."
Vore has been a driving force in the Indiana Optometric Association and the American Optometric Association serving in many capacities over the years including President, Vice President and Secretary/Treasurer. He was Secretary and President of the North Central Optometric Society and was past Director of the IOA's Continuing Education Department.
Not stopping with his profession, Vore has also been a key figure in service to the Plymouth community, serving as a member of the Plymouth City Council and the Marshall County Council. He was President of the Aviation Board of Commissioners, on the Board of Directors of the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce and served as President and Regional Vice President of the JayCees, receiving that organizations Keyman Award. He was District Chairman of the Boy Scouts and received that organizations Order of the Arrow.
He is an active member of the Plymouth Church of the Brethren, at various times singing in the choir, teaching Sunday School, acting on the Finance Committee and serving as the Chair of the church's Ministerial Committee.
His love of sports has not diminished either. Vore continues to teach racquetball at the LifePlex in Plymouth.
"I have to say that my wife (Marabelle) has had every bit as much to do with my success as I have," said Vore. "To do all the things that I've been privileged to have a chance to do takes time - time away from your family. She was always there, willing to do more, giving more of her time to support me and allow me to serve. I can't tell you how much I appreciate her and what she's done for our family."
Most residents in Plymouth came to know Vore personally. He was the driving force and face of yearly free vision screenings for all students in the Plymouth Schools.
"When I first started my practice in Plymouth I remember the State Association had been talking about a need for school screenings for children," said Vore. "I felt it was extremely important because you never know what you will find. I remember finding one young girl who had a tumor in her eye. Its a very rare condition and one that you have to catch very early. We were able to start her on treatment immediately."
Dr. Vore will be honored along with Suellen Glaub Long and Dr. Arthur Becknell Jr. as the latest inductees to the Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame at this year's Alumni Banquet slated for Friday June 15 at the Plymouth High School cafeteria and will feature a concert by 1995 graduate Denver Bierman in the PHS Auditorium. Tickets for the banquet are $35 and include VIP seating for the show. You can purchase tickets online at http://plymouthalumni.blogspot.com/ by email at plymouthschoolsalumni@gmail.com or phone 574-952-4444 or mail your check made payable to the Plymouth Alumni Association to 611 Berkley St., Plymouth, IN.
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