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TomSpoon

Dr. Joel Shugar

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From the clinic website. www.naturecoasteye.com

It is with heavy hearts that we inform you that our beloved Dr. Joel K. Shugar was taken from us on Memorial Day. Besides being a brilliant doctor, he was a great boss, teacher, and friend to all of us at Nature Coast, we are one big family here. ( He would call us his Shugar Babies).

The only information I have at this time is that the funeral will be held on Sunday in Tallahassee, under Jewish tradition flowers are not allowed at the funeral. So the family has
asked in lieu of flowers, donations should be made to Big Bend Hospice of Taylor County. 1723 Mayhan Center Blvd, Tallahassee 32308. Dr. Shugar was a great supporter of Hospice.

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I've been waiting and hoping that someone would open a thread , because I never knew him quite well enough that I would feel right doing it myself. On the other hand, I wasn't sure that very many of his skydiving friends post here--he was one of that group of skydivers who "post less, jump more," and his focus and dedication to the sport were admirable.

More importantly, from my perspective, was that in the time I was a manifestor, I could always count on him to be polite and friendly--even when he didn't get exactly the schedule he was looking for.

I don't ever remember him without a smile.

He was a good guy, and the world is a lesser place for his loss.

rl
If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

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Hello Tom,
My condolences go out to Dr. Shugar's family and friends. I didn't know him personally but he was my Mother's Eye Doctor. I wish I would have had the opportunity to thank him in person for helping her keep her vision. May he rest in peace.
"I'm not a gynecologist but I will take a look at it"
RB #1295, Smokey Sister #1, HellFish #658, Dirty Sanchez #194, Muff Brothers #3834, POPS #9614, Orfun Foster-Parent?"

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From the clinic website;

The Funeral for Dr. Shugar will be Sunday 11:am at Temple Israel, 2214 Mahan Drive, Tallahassee. Family, immediate close friends and current staff of Nature Coast will be going to the cemetary afterwards. The temple does not allow flowers; so the family has asked in lieu of flowers, donations should be made to Big Bend Hospice of Taylor County. 1723 Mayhan Center Blvd, Tallahassee 32308. Dr. Shugar was a great supporter of Hospice. Below I have attached his obituary.

Joel K. Shugar, MD, MSEE-

Dr. Shugar was born 12-9-1958 in Albany, New York. He has a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Cum laude. He earned his MD from SUNY Buffalo School of Medicine. He served his internship in internal medicine at Millard Filmore Hospital in Buffalo, New York. He completed his residency in Ophthalmology at the University of Florida in 1989 and was certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology, additionally certified in cataract/implant surgery by the American Board of Eye Surgery. He was a Fellow and Faculty Member of the American College of Eye Surgery; a Member of the American Medical Association, a Member of the Florida Society of Ophthalmology, and Member of the International Society of Refractive Surgery.

Dr. Shugar was pioneer in Ophthalmology; he invented “Shugarcaine” in 1997, the first and only anesthetic for use inside the eye (improving cataract surgery safety) which over half of the Ophthalmologists in the United States are using as well as many international doctors. In 2006 he invented “Epi-Shugarcaine” for floppy iris syndrome, widely in use by doctors globally. He has made 65 written contributions to the scientific literature. He frequently served as a reviewer for publications such as the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. One of his life long dreams was to invent a fully functional artificial eye.

Annually Dr. Shugar performed free cataract surgery on patients who could not afford surgery. His “Gift of Sight Day” performed before Thanksgiving Day for the last eight years and helped 300 patients improve their vision.

Judaism was an important of Dr. Shugar’s life; he participated in Jewish community and visited Israel with his father in 2003.

One of Dr. Shugar’s true passions other than his son Adam was skydiving; a skydiver since 1983, it defined an important portion of his life. He started the team Optic Nerve in 1998 in Deland, Florida and competed with world class skydivers, winning numerous medals in competition. He and his son also studied Shotokan Karate in Perry.

Dr. Shugar is survived by: His wife Lindsey W. Shugar, son Adam J. Shugar, father Harold B. Shugar from Albany New York, brother Dan Shugar and his wife Kathleen and their two sons Peter and David from San Bruno, California. He was preceded in death by his mother Sally Shugar.

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Thanks Spoon,

I didn't know Joel very well, but used to see him from time to time at the local DZ's around Florida and he always seem to have a big smile on his face. I got to make a few fun jumps with him and wished now that I had gotten to know him better. He operated on several skydiving friends and they always spoke so highly of him. What a tragic loss to his family, the sport and his local community! Rest in peace Joel.........
Dano

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Dr. Joel is just known as Dr. Joel around Deland. He fixed the eyes (lasik) of a wide swath of the locals in Deland, including mine. He was leading edge. My eyes were fixed back when Lasik was still a evolving technology(8-9 yrs ago?), and my eyes came out 20/15 both eyes.

This was not an uncommon result. But what really showed the kind of doctor he was, were the people that he turned down for surgery. He wasn't just pushing people thru for the money. If his tests showed that a patient's eyes were not fit - weren't stable enough or would change or loose focus some time after the operation, he turned down the business. There are a few skydivers in Deland who went thru that too.

Knowing that he wouldn't do a 'bad' operation to make money was a big factor in my confidence in letting someone cut and lase my eyeballs. I didn't know the guy very well at all. I just stopped in to say he was a hell of an eye doctor who helped a lot of skydivers.

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