Jule Lamm

Dr. Jule Lamm, O.D., died peacefully at his home on February 11, 2023. He was 99 years old. Born September 21, 1923 in Los Angeles, Jule was the third of four children and lived his early life on Douglas Street near Chavez Ravine, where he played as a child. Jule grew up during the Great Depression and developed, from an early age, a strong sense of confidence and self-reliance, enhanced by a natural curiosity of the world.  When he was six, he sold the Saturday Evening Post for pennies. While still in grammar school he built an “elevator” for his treehouse, built crystal set radios, and constructed an endless stream of model airplanes.   

Jule developed a passion for flying and driving that lasted his entire life.  As a young boy he regularly hopped the fence at Grand Central Terminal in Glendale to closely examine the airplanes. He was particularly proud of his first automobile purchase when he was 12 years old; a Ford Model A. He later used his skills working as an auto mechanic to help pay for his postgraduate education. 

Jule attended John Marshall High School where he studied drafting.  During that time he assisted the architect, Richard Neutra, who lived in an apartment downstairs in the Lamm family home. During Jule’s senior year, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps.  He was later sent to the Pacific where he flew C-47’s (DC3) and C-46’s, transporting people and supplies to far flung outposts.  Jule participated in the invasion of the Philippines, and as part of the “Tokyo Trolley” he piloted one of the first three transport airplanes into Japan immediately after the signing of the armistice.  

Upon completing his service, Jule attended UCLA and went on to earn a Doctor of Optometry in 1950 from Northern Illinois College of Optometry. Always an Angeleno, he returned home, opened the first of three optometry offices, and met his love, Judy, with whom, in his own words, he formed “a team” for 56 years. The team grew with their three children Randy, Brett, and Wendy.  

Jule’s lifelong sense of civic responsibility led to his participation in many community groups. He advocated to stop the proposed Beverly Hills Freeway and worked closely with Tom Bradley, Ed Edleman and Pat Brown on initiatives to fund a subway to the west side.   In 1969 the Lamm family moved to Santa Monica and Jule continued his civic activities, helping LA City Councilman Marvin Braude build the beach bike path to the  Marina.  For several decades, he piloted teams of nurses and doctors on monthly medical missions to a clinic he helped establish in rural Sinaloa, Mexico.  After retirement Jule volunteered as an optometrist for the Venice Family Clinic, Santa Monica Schools, and The Jules Stein Mobile Eye Clinic, providing eye exams for pre-school students across the region.  

In 2013, Jule lost Judy to pancreatic cancer. The shock of her passing was terrible, but Jule kept on “doing.”  He regularly attended grand rounds at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA, where after many years he and several colleagues realized a dream of creating an endowed position for an optometric clinician scientist within the institute.

Over nearly 100 years, Jule accomplished much, but his love for his family transcended all else in his life. He took his children and grand-children skiing, hiking, fishing and flying. He participated with great zest in large family gatherings, and well into his 90s he loved to camp with family. Jule is preceded in death by his parents, Rose and Joseph Lamm, his adored siblings, Nathaniel, Jeanette and Sarah, and the love of his life, Judy.  He will be forever cherished by his children: Randy Lamm (Bronwyn), Brett Lamm (Stephanie), and Wendy Lamm; and  his six grand-children, Gabriella, Julianna, Ian, Elia,  Arlo, and Gabriel.

In lieu of flowers please make donations to the Jules Stein Eye Institute. http://giving.ucla.edu/JuleLamm. All gifts made through this link will be directed to the UCLA Stein Eye Institute to support the Smotrich Family Optometric Clinician-Scientist Chair.