Eye Care Center of Newton — The History

Dr. Larry DeCook began this practice in Newton in June of 1965 with one other optometrist. In 1971, the two decided to discontinue their partnership and each have their own offices.

On May 3rd, 1971, the Newton Optometric Center, P.C. was opened at 108 N 2nd Ave E in Newton. Dr. DeCook started with only one office assistant, who continued to work for the practice until her retirement. Soon after, he hired a high school student to help after school, on Saturdays, and in the summer. The office had one examination room and a small optical dispensary. Shortly after the opening of the new office, the United Auto Workers went on the longest strike in their history against the Maytag Company. The strike lasted nearly five months, making this a very difficult time to be opening a new practice in town. Dr. DeCook continued to provide care to patients, giving credit to many members during the strike. As we would expect of the hard-working people of Newton, not one dime went unpaid after the strike ended.

During the early years, the office saw the advent of soft contact lenses, and in the late 1970s, the expansion of optometry into the use of diagnostic and therapeutic pharmaceuticals in daily practice. Dr. DeCook was one of the co-chairs of the committee that worked to pass the legislation, modernizing the optometry statute in the state. He played a significant role in gaining the scope of practice that Doctors of Optometry enjoy today, not only in the state of Iowa, but across the entire United States. Thanks to his efforts, along with many of his colleagues, optometry is now the leading primary care eye health profession in the nation.

After several years of steady growth, the practice outgrew the limited office space on 2nd Ave E, leading to the purchase of property on 1st Ave W and W 3rd St N, the current Clemon-Maki office. The property was that of an old gas station. The gas station was forced to close due to the newly constructed Interstate 80, which had replaced US Highway 6 as the major East/West route in Iowa. The station was remodeled and reopened as an optometric practice in 1979. As the practice continued to grow, there was a need for additional doctors, and in 1981 Dr. DeCook took on two partners, Drs. James and Ruth Bond. A satellite office was purchased in Altoona, giving the new doctors another place to work until the Newton office could support all three. At that time, the name was changed to the Eye Care Center of Newton. Drs. DeCook and James Bond also started a business called Newton Professional Purchasing, which was a buy-in group for optometric supplies. This office is still located on the north end of Newton and owned and operated by Randi Bond, the daughter of James and Ruth Bond.
The decade of the 1980s saw continued and rapid growth of the practice. For a short time, there were satellite offices in Baxter and Prairie City. However, because of the high cost of equipping the small offices, those locations were forced to be closed. At the same time, more office space was needed in Newton, leading to the purchase of the property on the corner of 1st St N and N 4th Ave W. In April 1991, a new state-of-the-art Eye Care Center was opened at that new location. This is the office we practice in today. During the ensuing years, the buy-in group grew to take all of Dr. James Bond’s time, so he retired from the practice. Dr. Ruth Bond continued to work until 2005, when she also retired from the practice.

In 1997, Dr. Kristin Rhoads joined the practice and is still an integral part of the professional staff today. Dr. Rhoads is a Newton native, and she and her family were long-time patients of Dr. DeCook.

As Dr. DeCook approached his 40th year in practice, he began to consider retirement. Fortunately, at the same time, Dr. Chad Klein was graduating from optometry school and looking for a career opportunity. Dr. Klein joined the professional staff in October of 2005. In September of 2007, after 42-plus years of serving the community of Newton, Dr. DeCook retired from the practice of optometry. The practice was purchased by Dr. Klein in December of 2008, legally becoming Newton Family Eye Care, P. C., keeping the Eye Care Center of Newton name to our patients.

From 2008 to 2017, Drs. Rhoads and Klein continued to see progressive growth of the practice to the point where another provider and more clinic space was needed to meet the needs of our patients. In March 2018, we broke ground on an office expansion and renovation. The project was completed in October 2018.

In May 2018, we added Dr. Brandon Tish to our professional team. Dr. Tish, also a Newton native, began seeing patients in July 2018 and joined the team full-time when the expansion and renovation project was completed in October 2018. In January 2026, Dr. Tish became a 50% owner in the practice with Dr. Klein.

The Eye Care Center has a long tradition of providing the highest level of optometric care to our patients. We are very proud of our past and are excited for the future of this practice.