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After 21 years of dedicated service as an optician, mentor and cornerstone of the ��ݮ��Ƶ Eye Institute Optical Dispensary, Mary Beth Taylor-Racine is retiring.

By Ameera Khan

Mary Beth Taylor-Racine's story begins with her growing up in Sault Ste. Marie, with fond memories of her grandmother's house on the shores of Lake Superior. Working as a receptionist in an optometry practice, it was an optician she worked with who inspired her to move to southern Ontario to attend Georgian College for opticianry. Since then, she has lived in London, Guelph and Cambridge for work. 

After 10 years at home raising her children, a fateful conversation with a stranger at a wedding brought Taylor-Racine back into the realm of opticianry and to the School. She shared with the stranger that she was an optician, and they shared that the ��ݮ��Ƶ School of Optometry and Vision Science was hiring a casual optician. 

Taylor-Racine waited a couple of weeks before trying the number given to her by the stranger. She explained that she had been at home and did not feel up to date but wanted to return to the field. On March 11, 2004, she started working at the School twice a week. Within two years, she was working four days a week and looking for more ways to contribute to the work being done in the clinic. Beyond her role as an optician, Taylor-Racine has been involved in everything from operating the Heidelberg Retinal Tomographer (HRT) for the Ocular Health Services glaucoma screening, to assisting with contact lens studies at the Centre for Ocular Research and Education (CORE). 

“My experience here has been phenomenal,” she says “The people have been so kind along the way and I feel that working with the interns has made me a better mom. I feel like I am a better person for having had this opportunity.”  

Over the past 21 years, Taylor-Racine has made a positive impact on those around her, not only through her exceptional work in making glasses for patients but also as a supportive and kind member of the team. She has watched children grow up in the clinic – like a little girl named Angel who always brought her drawings year after year. She has also participated in special clinic days where she would visit people in long-term care homes with students to make glasses for those who otherwise couldn't access vision care. She prides herself on being fashionable and keeping up with optical trends, as one of her responsibilities over these last few years has been selecting the frames displayed in the optical.  

Taylor-Racine credits the students for keeping her at the School for so much of her career.  

“The students have been the best part – learning their stories, since they come from all over Canada,” says Taylor-Racine. "Working with them and seeing them grow has been a great part of my experience. Some of them have really been like my kids and I’ve loved giving them advice or being there to give them a hug when they need it.”

Taylor-Racine is officially retiring on August 1, 2025, though she will be on holiday during July. She hopes her future involves fitness, time with family, volunteering and travelling in Europe.  

With just a few shifts left in the Optical Dispensary at the time of writing, Taylor-Racine is spending as much quality time as possible with her coworkers, enjoying their visits. She says the colleagues she has worked with over the years have been the kindest, most wonderful people. Although the interim location of the clinic is not where she spent most of her career, she says she will miss it as well. 

“When we moved to this clinic, I wasn’t sure how it would go, but I actually think it has brought the staff and doctors closer together," she says. “I think the journey coming here and then going back to the ��ݮ��Ƶ Eye Institute will make them a stronger and closer-knit group and I’m excited to see how they will grow.”  

As described by her fellow optician, Bryan Martinez, Mary Beth truly is the heart of the team and will be missed by everyone who has had the privilege of working with her.