2013 -- S 0436

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LC01886

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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2013

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S E N A T E R E S O L U T I O N

CONGRATULATING DR. FRANK W. DICHIARA ON FIFTY-SIX YEARS OF

HONORABLE SERVICE TO HIS PATIENTS, COMMUNITY, AND PROFESSION

     Introduced By: Senators Gallo, Lombardi, and Ruggerio

     Date Introduced: February 27, 2013

     Referred To: Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar

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     WHEREAS, Dr. Di Chiara’s record of service to the optometric community is founded

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on the outstanding education he received. A graduate of La Salle Academy, he went on to

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complete pre-medical courses at Providence College, and then received his doctorate from the

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Pennsylvania College of Optometry; and

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     WHEREAS, Prior to starting his practice in 1956, Dr. Di Chiara interned at the Rhode

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Island Hospital Ophthalmology Section and in a private practice. In 1959, he became the director

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of the Low Vision Clinic at the Rhode Island Association for the Blind, now called In-Sight.  He

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headed the clinic for thirty years and wrote several articles on low vision.  He also lectured many

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times in the United States, including Florida, Texas, California, and Hawaii; and

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     WHEREAS, Over the course of his career, Dr. Di Chiara earned the respect and

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admiration of his peers. He was admitted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry in

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1963 and became the twenty-seventh Diplomate in Low Vision in 1980, receiving Emeritus status

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in 2005. He was honored by his colleagues with the Optometrist of the Year award in 1980 and

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the Distinguished Service Award in 1987. He was appointed to the Board of Examiners in

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Optometry by the Governor, serving as its chairman for four years. In addition, he was named

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Alumnus of the Year by the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in 1998. That same year he was

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honored by Saving Sight R.I. for his many contributions to the community. The Rhode Island

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Optometric Association has presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Frank W. Di

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Chiara, the first doctor to receive this most prestigious award; and

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     WHEREAS, Dr. Di Chiara has also taken the time to better the lives of many others

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through his community service. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Big Brothers of

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R.I. for twenty years and was honored with the organization’s Humanitarian Award in 2004. He

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has been a member of many cultural and civic organizations, holding the position of President of

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the Mount Pleasant Lions Club, the Clavis Cultural Club, the School Guild, and the Renaissance

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Lodge. He raised over one million dollars in new eyeglass frames and, through the Lions Club,

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donated them to a free eye clinic in India; and

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     WHEREAS, Dr. Frank Di Chiara married the love of his life, Esther I. Bontempo, in

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1959. They have two children, Dr. Louise Marie Di Chiara Pastore, who practices with her father

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at Garden City EyeCare, Inc. and a son, Frank W. Di Chiara, Jr. As busy as Dr. Di Chiara may

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be, he always finds time to enjoy his grandchildren, Elena, Christina, and Peter; now, therefore be

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it

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     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

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hereby congratulates Dr. Frank W. Di Chiara on his fifty-six years of honorable service to his

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patients, community, and profession. We applaud his accomplishments and wish him continued

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success; and be it further

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     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

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transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Dr. Frank W. Di Chiara.

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LC01886

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