Latimer honors plastic eye pioneer

By: 
Zach Clemens

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Latimer native Milton Wirtz perfected the plastic eye
 
     A street in Latimer has been renamed to honor a native of the town who’s work is in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and the University of Northern Iowa Museum.
     The Latimer street was named after Dr. Milton Wirtz, a longtime dentist and World War II veteran who perfected the plastic eye prosthesis.
     He got the inspiration after a dental technician he worked with complained about how uncomfortable his glass eye was.
     When the war broke out, Dr. Wirtz recognized a need for a new prosthesis and was commissioned by the Surgeon General to establish the Artificial Eye Laboratory, according to the UNI Museum’s website. The doctor went on to establish an instruction program for training future opthalmoprothetists. 
     Read the full article in the August 31 edition of the Hampton Chronicle.

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