June 14, 1957 - Sept. 27, 2018
David P. Bartels of Amherst, an optometrist and business owner who was equally at home on the water, in the snow or in the Willow Ridge neighborhood in West Amherst, died Sept. 27 in the McAuley Residence in the Town of Tonawanda, after a long illness. He was 61.
Born in Buffalo, Dr. Bartels graduated from Amherst High School and SUNY Buffalo State, where he studied chemistry. He played hockey during his high school years and at Buffalo State was president of the school's hockey association.
He worked as a bartender at Mulligan's Sunset Bay and the Brick Bar on Allen Street from 1975-1977 and was on the management team at Mulligan's Sunset Bay from 1977-1978 before leaving Western New York to pursue his education.
He attended the Illinois College of Optometry, where he graduated cum laude, and then came home to begin his career.
Dr. Bartels enjoyed skiing, boating and playing tennis. He could often be found in summer in his Donzi powerboat on the Niagara River or in Grand View Bay on Lake Erie.
He liked to ski close to home in Ellicottville at HoliMont Ski Club, and on demanding slopes in Colorado. He once took on Corbet's Couloir, an expert ski run in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
It was on an Ellicottville ski excursion in 1985 that he met his future wife, the former Madeline “Lin” Macie. They were married April 29, 1988, in St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Cheektowaga and built a home in Willow Ridge in 1994 where they raised their two children, Madeline and Daniel.
Dr. Bartels, who was affectionately known to many as “Dr. Dave,” was well-known to many in the sprawling Willow Ridge neighborhood, where his friends and neighbors became his patients, and sometimes vice versa.
“No matter what he was doing, he always wanted to be surrounded by his friends and his family,” his son said.
In 1990, Dr. Bartels opened Vision Care Center on Niagara Falls Boulevard at the corner of Willow Ridge Drive. In 2004, he started Clarence Eye Center with Dr. Michael Murphy. He became a Fellow of the Orthokeratology Academy of America and was a member of the Western New York Society of Optometrists and the American Optometric Association.
In addition to his wife of 30 years, his daughter and his son, Dr. Bartels is survived by two sisters, Darcie Beyer and Louise Bartels.
A Memorial Mass will be offered at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in St. Joseph Catholic Church, 3629 Main St.