Judy Hutton - Office Manager/ Optician

• Years with Dr. Schwartz Optometrist and Associates: 28
• Years of experience: 35
• Judy currently wears the Marchon Airlock 800.  It is a 3 piece mounting frame, which means there are only 3 metal pieces that attach the lens to the frame.  It is completely rimless. She wears progressive lenses which allow her to see at virtually any distance. Her lenses are made of a high index material, which makes them thinner with an anti-reflective coating to cut down on glare.

Judy is in charge of making sure the office runs smoothly.  As Office Manager, she is in charge of patient satisfaction with both doctors and staff.  Her responsibilities change daily which makes her job very interesting. Judy is also a Dispensing Optician.  She helps patients with selection of glasses and dispensing of contact lenses. Judy has been a certified Optician since 1977. In 1984, Judy was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. She was treated and is happy to report that she is now a 16 year Survivor. Judy enjoys riding Harley's with her husband of 18 years, Dave.  They live with their golden retriever Floyd, in the country on several acres of land, where they enjoy living away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Joie Merryman - Billing Specialist

• Years with Dr. Schwartz Optometrist and Associates: 6
• Currently wears soft contact lenses as well as a fashionable pair of glasses.  Her current glasses are a Modern Sadie in burgundy.

Joie handles all aspects of insurance and patient billing. Joie originally worked for Dr. Schwartz when she was in high school. She kept in touch after she left and remained a loyal patient. At the time when she began looking for work again, Judy called her about a bill that was not covered by her insurance.  By the end of the conversation, Judy was offering her a job. Joie describes it as fate. "It was like coming home again, Everyone here has always been like a family and I couldn't be happier". Joie and her husband Kevin have two beautiful children who are 9 and 6, a 14 year old niece, and a big hairy dog named Auto sharing in the blessings of their household.

Sara Balmforth - Optician/ Contact lens Specialist

• Years with Dr. Schwartz Optometrist and Associates: 10
• Years of experiance: 13
• She currently wears a Christine Dior frame and Acuvue Oasys contact lenses

Sara helps patients and advises them in fashionable frame styles and proper lens selection.  As a contact lens specialist, she also dispenses contact lenses.  Sara handles all the ordering of contact lenses for the office.  She also meets with all the contact lens company representatives to discuss the latest technology and contact lens developments.  Sara is a is a people person and truly loves what she does and the people she works with.  She is a Sterling Heights native with a wonderful Dog named Sonnie.

Marie Thomas - Optician

• Years with Dr. Schwartz Optometrist and Associates: 8
• Years Experience: 8
• Marie wears the Easy Clip in Ruby Red. She has a standard plastic lens with a premium anti-reflective coating and transitions.

Some people say that Marie is a Jack-ette of all trades in the office.  She helps the front desk staff with checking in patients, verifying insurance benefits, and confirming the next days appointments.  She also provides reinforcement in the lab when her skills are needed.  She does all of this in addition to assisting patients select eyewear that is both fashionable and functional.  If that wasn't enough, she also teaches classes on insertion and removal of contacts to patients.  She loves her job very much and always goes the extra mile for her patients.  Marie believes in one sentence that is taped to her desk that she tries to live by:

"Dance like no one is watching, love like you'll never be hurt,sing like no one is listening,and live like it's heaven on earth."

Marie Watt - Front Desk Coordinator and Dr. Assistant

• Years with Dr. Schwartz Optometrist and Associates: 5
• Years Experience: 5
• Marie wears an easy clip frame with progressive lenses and an anti-glare coating.  She also has a magnetic sun glass clip for this frame.  Marie also wears Biomedics XC contact lenses.

Since Marie schedules appointments, gathers information to verify patients vision and medical insurance, and helps direct patients with their forms, she is often one of the first people you meet at our office.  But Marie's job doesn't stop there.  She is also responsible for pretesting the patients before they see the doctor.  Not only does she greet the patients at the beginning of their experience, she also lets patients know when their glasses and contacts are ready to be picked up.  While all of this sounds like a lot of responsibility, Marie is the right person for the job.  With her BBA in General Management and her Medical Billing Certificate of achievement, she is well suited for this position.  Marie believes in treating our patients as she would like to be treated.  She hopes you will be pleased by the care and service you receive from her while in the office.  Marie has 3 grown children and 4 grandchildren who she and her husband Gary love to spoil and then send home!  She enjoys reading, crafts and cooking.  Her recent cooking and craft accomplishment was making her son's 3 tier stacked wedding cake.

Ruth Gross - Front Desk Coordinator & Doctor Assistant

• Years with Dr. Schwartz Optometrist and Associates: 10
• Years Experience: 12
• Ruth doesn't wear any glasses or contacts, she had LASIK surgery in 1998

Although patients often ask her if she's new to the practice, this is actually the same Ruth that started with Dr. Schwartz back in 1996 - she just changes her hair color a lot!  Ruth is fascinated by how much of a persons well being can be seen through the eyes.  She loves working with the doctors to show patients that we care so much more about them than simply selling them a pair of glasses.  Ruth enjoys working with all of our patients - whether they are 5, 55, or 95 years of age.  

Stephanie DeSousa - Lab Technician

• Years Experience: 10
• Stephanie wears a Vogue semi rimless frame with polycarbonate lenses and anti-reflective coating. She also wears Focus Daily contact lenses

As a lab technician, Stephanie makes quality prescription eyewear, completes adjustments and repairs, and works with our patients to make sure they are satisfied with their eyeware. Stephanie loves working in the lab.  She has worked in many different areas of the eyeware industry from selling glasses to billing insurance, but by far, working in the lab is what she truly loves doing.  She loves seeing the enjoyment on a patients face when they pick up their new glasses.  It makes her feel like she has done her job well.  Stephanie also loves music.  She played clarinet through high school which gave her the opportunity to play in the Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade 4 years in a row. She still loves playing.  It is the one thing that can take her away from everything when things get a little crazy.