Dr. Paul R. Honan, Jr.

God called Paul R. Honan, Jr. to Heaven on May 18, 2017, just 11 days short of his 96th birthday. He was born in Lebanon, Indiana, on May 29, 1921, to Jewell (Crooks) and Paul R. Honan, Sr. He is a 1939 graduate of Lebanon High School. In his senior year at Wabash College, Paul decided to go to medical school because a friend and fellow Sigma Chi, who was a year older than he, was in his first year of medical school and influenced him to go. He began his studies at Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia in 1943 and completed them there in 1946. During World War II the school operated year round to graduate doctors in 3 years instead of the normal 4 in case they were needed by the war effort. He opened his office for general practice in 1948 in Lebanon, Indiana, where he provided care for patients with a wide variety of illnesses, delivered babies, and shared with other local doctors in staffing the emergency room at Witham Hospital. In 1953 with the Korean War being fought, doctors were need by and drafted into the military. Dr. Honan had to close his practice. He then served in the Army from 1953 – 55. During part of his time in the Army, he worked in the eye clinic at the Madigan Army Hospital in Tacoma, Washington. He became interested in specializing in ophthalmology due to his experiences at the eye clinic. In 1955 he began his residency at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. He completed his residency in 1957 and started his ophthalmology practice in Lebanon, where he practiced until May 12, 2017. He developed an interested in contact lenses in the early 1960s. He presented many courses for doctors from across the U.S. on contact lenses. In 1967 he was concerned about the quality of contacts available and established Medicornea to make high quality rigid lenses. He served a year as president of the Contact Lens Association of Ophthalmologists (CLAO). For over 40 years he was a professor in the Department of Ophthalmology of IU School of Medicine working mainly in the contact lens department. In March 1975 Dr. Honan travelled to The Netherlands to take a course in intraocular lenses by Cornelius Binkhorst M.D. In July 1975 he inserted an intraocular lens (IOL) during a cataract surgery in Lebanon IN. It was one of the first, if not the first, intraocular lens inserted in Indiana. Inserting an IOL was not looked upon very kindly by Indiana ophthalmologists at the time but now is the standard. In the early 1970s he became concerned with loss of vitreous fluid during cataract surgery. He developed the Honan Intraocular Pressure Reducer, the Honan balloon, to soften the eye before surgery and to increase the probability of successful surgery. His father, who had been in manufacturing, helped refine the design, so that it could be commercially made and sold. He brought in his son David in the early 1980s and later his son-in-law Jon to help run the company that still produces Honan Balloons. They are still used all over the world prior to modern cataract and corneal transplant surgery. He remained active in many medical organizations. In addition to CLAO he is a member of the AMA, American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Society for Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS), Indiana State Medical Association, and Indiana Academy of Ophthalmology (IAO), serving as president for a year. In 2010 he received the Honored Guest Award from the ASCRS. He received The Harold Ridley Distinguished Visiting Professor Award for “creativity, innovation, perseverance and productivity in medicine and ophthalmology” in 2013. The IAO presented him with their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. He was a long time member of Ulen Country Club, the Lebanon Rotary Club and Otterbein United Methodist Church. After admiring the bread in Europe on a trip in 1970, he began baking French bread, a long time hobby which he shared with family and friends and taught to next generations. His life was one of service. He led by example. His family has been so blessed. Survivors include his sister Martha Ann Parr, daughter Linda (Jon) Silverberg, son David and daughter Susan (David) Jones; grandchildren Jon (Tiffany) Silverberg, Katie (Peter) Jones Schmitt and Shannon Jones; and great granddaughter Katharine Elizabeth Silverberg. His practice was so very important to him that it was his fervent wish that it continue after his death to serve patients. His associate, John LaTona, MD, will continue the ophthalmology practice in the same location, while Dr. Lisa Conard will ensure that the NAET allergy treatments are still available. He was preceded in death by his wife of 73 years, Kathleen Kouns Honan, and by his parents. Visitation will be held at Myers Mortuary, 1502 N. Lebanon St., Lebanon, on Thursday, May 25 from 4 to 7 PM. The funeral service will be held on Friday, May 26 at 2 PM at the mortuary. Interment with military rites will follow at Oak Hill Cemetery in Lebanon. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in his honor to Otterbein United Methodist Church, 804 S. Lebanon St., Lebanon, IN 46052.

Dr. Paul R. Honan, Jr.

May 29, 1921 - May 18, 2017