When Marian Deptula first got the phone call, she cried. “I almost dropped the phone,” she recounted. “I thought it was such a great honour.” Deptula was inducted into the College of Opticians of Alberta Hall of Fame during the College's Annual General Meeting and Convention in April.
When Marian Deptula first got the phone call, she cried.
“I almost dropped the phone,” she recounted. “I thought it was such a great honour.”
Deptula was inducted into the College of Opticians of Alberta Hall of Fame during the College's Annual General Meeting and Convention in April.
She was one of the first women to own an optical dispensary in Alberta and one of the first women to be recognized by the college.
Deptula moved to St. Albert in 1963. In 1971, she received designations as an optometric assistant and ophthalmic dispenser through the National Registry for Optometric Personnel and the Alberta Guild of Ophthalmic Dispensers, respectively.
Deptula became part owner of Central Optical in the late 1970s and opened her own business – Optics by Marian – in Village Tree Mall in 1980.
She went on to open Summit Optical in1982, then consolidated the two existing shops into MDO Opticians. At one point she also owned Women with Vision Opticians in Edmonton (still a family business) and Eye-Bar in Sherwood Park.
“She stood the test of time when all the big box opticals came in and all the little opticals closed, she remained to be very successful,” noted Deptula's daughter, Cindy Cinats.
First Lady
Previously having worked as a secretary (as well as a baby sitter, dance teacher and sometimes substitute teacher), Deptula went back to school to become an optician in her 40s.
“I always wanted to be an entrepreneur. I always wanted to make sure I could earn enough to educate my children and look after them if need be,” she said.
“It's never too late to learn.”
When Deptula first started in the optical business, she was one of the one per cent of women in the profession's boys club.
“Since (the profession) was dominated by men, I wanted women to break that and change the culture,” she said.
A lack of fashionable glasses frames was a consequence of few women opticians.
At one point there were only 10 frames to choose from, noted Deptula, while stores now carry hundreds. In her heyday, she would fly to Paris and New York to check out the newest, trendiest lines.
Cinats remembers sporting a very fashionable set of sunglass frames in high school – designed by her mother.
They were blue-tinted aviators with rhinestones spelling out her initials.
“I wish I still had those glasses,” she laughed.
Deptula gave up her optician's license in 2012 after battling cancer. Up until then she was working six days a week.
She had been in remission from cancer for eight years, but received a new diagnosis last October.
This time, Deptula underwent six chemotherapy treatments and 128 radiation treatments. She is now in remission.
“She's not seeing customers anymore, but she still checks her books – her bank account and credit cards – every day from home,” said Cinats.
“She was always there, very dedicated to her business.”
One of the reasons her businesses have been so successful is because she never skimped on quality or customer service, added Cinats.
For years, Deptula would spend one afternoon a week visiting clients at Youville Home. She would help clean, adjust their glasses and just visit.
“They always say Lois Hole was the ‘Queen of Hugs,' I disagree. My mom was the ‘Queen of Hugs',” said Cinats.
“I don't shake hands,” added Deptula.
