Dr. Klute Takes Ownership Of Young Vision Care

After returning from World War II, Elwood “Jack” Young, choose to become an optometrist over pursuing professional golf. He graduated at the Northern Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago after 18 months in 1948. He practiced in his hometown of Council Bluffs initially. In 1950, he purchased the Glenwood office of Dr. Ken Myers at 103 N. Walnut. The office was remodeled in 1968.

After their two daughters started school,  Dr. Jack worked with his wife Bonnie. With no daycare at that time, the daughters would be at the office after school. A patient has shared that Jacque, when she was five, would help train patients trying the newly developed contact lenses. “Wide eye, pull, blink- that’s all there is to it”- she would coach copying her father’s directions.

In 1979, after three years of pre-med courses at Iowa, Jacque was accepted the Illinois College of Optometry.  She graduated with honors in 1983, and served as the first female president of the student body.
The office space was doubled when she first joined the practice and was later again expanded to 1200 sq ft . The name Young Vision Care was selected in the late 1980s.

Dr. Jack retired in 1990, having practiced in Glenwood for 40 years. He enjoyed several years of coaching high school students how to golf.

In 1992, the Christiansen Hardware building became available. This 4,000 square foot space was purchased and remodeled. Dr. Jacque designed the layout after carefully studying other office designs. Four employees, including her mother, Bonnie, moved into the new office, with two exam rooms and room for expansion. Bonnie commented “This is heaven!”

This was also when new technology was being developed to provide better vision care. Automated visual field instrumentation, to detect early changes in the outer vision, and automated refractors to help determine eyewear prescriptions were the first units acquired at Young Vision Care. Photos of the inside of the eye were also added.

In 2007, Young Vision Care was one of the first offices in the Midwest to add the newest OCT (Optical Coherent Tomographer). It acquired 24,000 scans in one second of the anatomy of the retinal tissue and optic nerve structure.  The recent third OCT instrument acquires 71,000 scans in a second, besides evaluating the blood flow to these vital eye structures.

Over the years, Young Vision Care has emphasized quality vision for their patients in eyewear lenses and contact lenses selections.  New technologies are embraced to enhance and maintain the vision of our patients. Dr. Jacque has in the past provided free vision screenings to over 3,000 young children with the help of the local Kiwanis Club.

Dr. Jacque was the first woman to join a service organization in Glenwood in the late 1980’s. She was also a charter member the Glenwood Area Dollars for Scholars in 1999 and continues to be involved with both organizations. More recently, she was involved with the committee that spearheaded the building of the six pickleball courts in Glenwood.

Dr. Jacque has pursued finding an optometrist who would embrace and continue the tradition of early detection of devastating eye diseases, such as glaucoma and macular degenerative for nearly 15 years. Dr. Kyle Klute worked with Young Vision Care for over a year in 2017. His clinical skills showed Dr. Jacque’s compassion. He continued to provide care in Glenwood as needed. Dr. Klute has a growing practice in Omaha and has realized the potential of the Glenwood location.

As of the beginning of 2023,Dr. Klute will take ownership of the of the 73-year-old practice. Dr. Jacque will continue to practice two days a week for several years. Dr. Klute plans to provide more optometric doctors to allow the practice to expand the office’s care to include more area patients.

Originally from the small town, Hampton, in south-central Nebraska, Dr. Klute strives to bring that small-town, personable experience to health care. He believes patients should not have to go to a small town to find kind and hospitable healthcare nor should they have to go to a big city to find a professional expert. Dr. Klute works hard to bring what he sees is most needed to healthcare: the combination of both personable and professional care.

Dr. Klute received his optometry degree from Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago and then completed additional training at a Veteran’s Medical Center in Battle Creek, Mich. He then worked at an ocular disease referral center exclusively managing sight-threatening conditions of the eye. In addition to his time in the clinic seeing patients and managing the practices, he lectures to other optometrists across the country on various topics in eyecare, writes for eyecare industry periodicals, and is an editor for the Journal of Medical Optometry.

In his spare time, he spends time with his wife, Lauran, and three children. They are all thrilled to get to know the families of Glenwood, serve the community, and continue the legacy of care that Dr. Jacque and her father started at Young Vision Care.