William Robert Cutting

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William Cutting Obituary

William Robert ("Bill") Cutting William Robert ("Bill") Cutting, 67, of Fort Myers, FL passed away peacefully on December 13, 2019, after a long battle with cancer (glioblastoma). Bill was the son of William H. and Amelia Cutting. He was born in Tottenville, Staten Island, NY, and attended Tottenville High School before he and his family moved to Bradenton, Florida in 1967. Bill completed his final years of high school at Southeast High. Bill received his undergraduate degree from the University of Miami and completed his studies in optometry at the University of Houston. Bill returned to Bradenton and joined an optometry practice in 1979 and, most importantly, soon after met his wife, Teresa; they married in 1981. He practiced optometry for over 30 years in Florida, mostly affiliated with the Eye Centers of Florida in Fort Myers, FL. Bill enjoyed running, fishing, boating, classic cars, a well-manicured lawn, Hurricanes football, and listening to his robust album collection. Bill will be remembered by family, friends, and neighbors for his immaculate landscaping, friendly nature, and his ability to fill the neighborhood with a wide array of melodic tunes and rocking jams. In addition to his wife, Teresa, Bill is survived by his daughters; Ashley (Daniel) White, of Cape Coral, FL, Jennifer Cutting, of Buckingham, FL; his sons; William B. (Christine) Cutting, Daniel Cutting of Seattle, WA, and Stephen Cutting of Fort Myers, FL; his five grandchildren; William F. Cutting, Amelia White, Benjamin Cutting, Maya White, and Jack Cutting, and his sisters, Leslie and Terry. Bill's family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in his memory to The Bridge School, 545 Eucalyptus Avenue, Hillsborough, CA, 94010 (bridgeschool.org).

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Published by Bradenton Herald on Dec. 18, 2019.

Memories and Condolences
for William Cutting

4 Entries

Janet Mayer

March 26, 2025

In my last post, I didn't include all of my memories of Dr. Cutting and so I would like to share a couple more of them now.
One of them was how Dr. Cutting used to say his favorite time of the workday was 5:00, and that's because he said he liked looking in his rear view mirror and watching the Eye Centers of Florida get smaller, and smaller and smaller. Just one of the many, little Dr. Cutting things I still laugh about.

Dr. Cutting said that sometime ago he was struck by lightning while he was watching a summer storm from his garage. He was standing in the open garage doorway and was leaning his hand up against the metal hardware on the side when he was struck. He said that since then, he began having dreams that would actually come true in real life. I used to ask him in the mornings what his dreams were about the night before, because his "dream predictions" had turned out to be mostly accurate.
This one morning he said that he dreamed the Eye Center was on fire and everyone had to evacuate. He said that all the patients were brought outside and across the street. They were wheeling out even the patients on the operating tables who were in the middle of having surgery. Dr. Cutting said he remembers seeing all the emergency vehicles and flashing lights, and all of the employees and patients huddling out there in one giant crowd across the street.
Well, that's one dream that isn't going to come true, I laughed.

However, later that very same day, all the fire alarms in the building suddenly went off and all the lights went out except for the emergency lights. Everyone was getting patients out of the building in wheelchairs and stretchers. And then there we all were, standing across the street. Nurses holding IV's up, surgeons wearing their scrubs, optometrists wearing white lab coats, all the supervisors and techs, opticians and the people who worked upstairs. There were fire engines, police cars and ambulances all over the place. And then there was the bomb squad.

So as it turned out, some idiot ex employee holding a grudge phoned in to say that he planted a bomb in the building.
After several hours in the hot sun we were all let back into the building when it was determined that no bomb had been found.

We'll never know how Dr. Cutting could do this. But he could. And he did.

I miss you, my friend.

Janet Mayer

September 17, 2024

I am so saddened to have learned of Bill Cutting's death. I worked with Dr. Cutting at the Eye Centers of Florida from 1989 (he was hired the same year as I) until 2003, when I moved. He was my favorite doctor and I always went out of my way to scribe for him and attend to his patients. I learned so much from him, he was so kind and he was funny, too. Every time I see or hear the words "Staten Island" I think of his Staten Island joke and it always makes me smile.
The doctors and techs always preferred the noon lunch time but Dr. Cutting and I always preferred the late lunch because it was quiet and peaceful, as we were the only people in the lunchroom. He would do his crossword puzzles and eat his lunch and banana and I would read my book and eat my supper leftovers. He used to fly through the newspaper crossword puzzles and be done in just a minute or two. I asked him how he could finish them so quickly and he answered "I know how they think". So I searched for the most extremely difficult crossword puzzle book I could find. It was also 2 inches thick. When I gave it to him I said "Ha, this will keep you busy for a year"!! Not so. During the first one hour lunch, he completed about 5 puzzles. Then he would put the book back in his locker. Next lunch, he completed about 5 or 6 puzzles. Before I knew it he was halfway through the book. Absolutely incredible.
He said that crossword puzzles keep the brain active.
Life is so unfair.

I only recently learned of his death and so I keep forgetting, and I think that one day I am going to visit ECOF and there he will be, standing with his arms folded over the counter, waiting for the next patient. But then I realize that he will not be there.

He is in peace now. They say the soul never dies, it just moves on to bigger and better things.
And now he really has all the answers.
I will always miss him.

Mark Gaines

August 21, 2024

Bill and I were music buddies in 1967-1970 and lived in the same neighborhood in Bradenton, always turning each other on to the music we loved and shared and I see from his obituary that passion never waned. Sorry to see of his passing and tried contacting him in 2011 upon moving back to S Fl and Cape coral. He will be missed I am sure and also wondering what happened to his sister Leslie.

Bertha Contreras

December 27, 2019

Condolences to his family. I was able to work with Dr C a few years and I'm sad to hear if his passing

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