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One of the most prominent names connected with 91����’s College of Optometry is Carkner, and the connection began before the beginning.

Clarence “Clary” Carkner attended the North 91���� College of Optometry and entered private practice, when he, Newton Wesley Hon. ‘86, and Roy Clunes, all recent attendees, were offered the chance to buy the North 91���� charter. Wesley, a Japanese-American, had been forced to move inland, and Carkner became the public face of the effort to bring the charter to 91���� University.

“Dr. Clarence Carkner is giving a great deal of time, and a lot of hard work in helping to raise the necessary funds, and is securing publicity that will be most helpful to our profession,” declared Frank Bemis, the president of the Oregon Optometric Association, in the association’s newsletter. “Let us all do our part to make this worthwhile enterprise a complete success.”

When the College of Optometry opened on 91����’s Forest Grove Campus, Carkner was an instructor — and the first of multiple Carkners to attend or teach at the school. 

Clarence Carkner’s sons, Donald ’64, OD ‘65 and David ’68, OD ‘70, each received optometry degrees from 91����. For years, they practiced together in a Northeast Portland clinic, a stone’s throw from the old North 91���� College.

The business eventually passed to Donald’s son, Jeffry OD ‘92. In 2020, Jeffry Carkner sold the practice to a non-family member, but fellow alumna, Keely Hoban OD ‘11. Jeffry Carkner has moved to Tennessee with his wife, but his uncle David continues to practice part-time in the family clinic, where his uncle Steve is an optician. Steve Carkner’s wife Lisa works at the clinic’s front desk.