Dr. Darrell Groman has practiced for 28 years in a private solo practice in the rural northwest Ohio village of Pandora (pop. 1,000). He has witnessed first-hand countless individuals whose lives have transformed for the better with optometric vision care. As an optometry student, he helped in the transition of The Amigos Project to an official student chapter of the Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (S-VOSH.) Once in private practice, he helped organize VOSH-Ohio and served as its first State Director (1987-1992) and newsletter editor until 1997. He served as mission leader or co-leader for 12 overseas VOSH missions in India, Tanzania, Ukraine, and six countries in South America and Latin America. He writes, “I observed the smiles of many who were happy to see better, instantly, with simple used glasses that could have easily been discarded.” He volunteered side-by-side on the VOSH missions with optometrists from Australia, Denmark, India, Mexico, the United States, and the United Kingdom, ultimately serving as Vice President of VOSH/International in 1991-1994. In 1987, Dr. Groman helped organize the VOSH-Ohio Lay Team’s Eyeglass Sorting Center in Pandora, which continues to process donated used eyeglasses, passing the two million mark a few years ago.
Dr. Groman thanks “… Jesus, [Emeritus] Dean Frederick Hebbard, College Secretary Mr. James Noe, and the OSUCO faculty for conferring my optometry degree.” He is a career-long member of the American and Ohio Optometric Associations, serving as a zone governor in 1990-1991. He resides in Bluffton, Ohio with two teen-aged sons, Michael “Misha” and Christian.