Dr. Gary Havranek ‘79 has always called Beaver County home. Raised in Conway Borough and the owner of a 38-year optometry practice in downtown Beaver Falls, Gary has lived outside the county only for the four years spent in optometry school. His life and career have been grounded in the people and places of western Pennsylvania, especially Beaver Falls and Geneva College. 

Though Gary’s first love was music — especially drumming — he discovered his career calling in the tenth grade after a trip to the eye doctor. Choosing to stay close to home during college, he continued to play in a local band on Saturdays while commuting to Geneva. 

His first visit to Geneva presented him with the “grand treatment,” and he was encouraged to meet another Freedom High School alumni who hosted his campus tour. Geneva presented a local option grounded in the shared Christian faith with an academic caliber to prepare him for medical school, which he later chose to pursue at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in Philadelphia (Doctor of Optometry, 1984). 

As a commuter student at Geneva, Gary fondly remembers time spent in the Brig and in the chemistry labs, as well as the people he regularly saw in those spaces. He developed friendships on campus, choosing to study on site even outside of class hours. He continues to keep in touch with college friends, including Phil Fatula ‘79 and John Stahl ‘79. Gary's undergraduate experience was marked by instrumental professors as well, including chemistry professors Dave Badger and Ken Hartman, the latter who started Portage Learning, and the late Roy Adams, PhD, and Betty Douglas, MFA. 

Adams served as a chemistry professor and department chair for nearly 40 years, leading the department to approved American Chemical Society (ACS) status and securing National Science Foundation funding for research support and the expansion of the Science & Engineering Building. Gary remembers his soft-spoken wisdom, and particularly the impact of Adams through his organic chemistry courses. 

Douglas taught humanities at Geneva for 30 years. A renowned artist, she later opened the Douglas Art Gallery in Rochester, PA, and is an archived artist at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. Her leadership in Geneva’s core studies has shaped the College profoundly. Though intimidated by Douglas when a student, Gary later served on an area board with her through their respective work in the Beaver County community, remembering her talented and engaged presence. 

After completing his undergraduate and doctoral studies, Gary returned to Beaver Falls and began working with a local eye doctor, Ellis Hoffman. He purchased the practice from Dr. Hoffman and grew the business to the multi-site Complete Family Vision Care. Through his business, he engaged Geneva College through athletic sponsorships, relationships with former professors, and by serving many in the community who were his patients. 

“This school is where I got my start and received a great education,” says Gary. “Geneva is a big part of this town.” 

Gary and his wife Carrie continue to live in Beaver Falls, devoting their time, energy, and skillset to the community. In recent years, he and his family restored a local historical site, the Moltrop Steel Mansion, continuing to invest in the development and restoration of the city they call home. 

He again connected with the College when his daughter Emily (Havranek) Reynolds ‘18 attended Geneva. Gary's years as an undergraduate student left a lasting impact on him, and he was given the opportunity to watch his daughter experience the same impact through the community she built with her classmates and professors. Nearly 40 years after his days as a student, he noted the growth in the culture at Geneva that allowed his daughter to have a more robust experience as a commuter student. 

Gary sees Geneva College as critical to the health of Beaver Falls, a place of formational memories for himself and countless students, and as the alma mater both he and his daughter are proud to claim. From the 1970s to the 2020s, he’s taken part in the missional vision of Geneva College as a student, a dedicated alumnus, and a strong community partner and donor.

By Amelia Jones MBA '26 and Erika Kauffman '20