Enumclaw Vision Clinic’s Dr. Seaburg retires after 48 years

Published 3:15 pm Thursday, July 2, 2026

Dr. Mark Seaburg, an Enumclaw optometrist, has retired after 48 years.

The founder of the Enumclaw Vision Clinic started his business in 1978 after getting degrees from the University of Washington and Pacific University.

In a recent interview in-between clients on his last day, he said he came to Enumclaw on the recommendation of a friend.

It was a great fit, and not just for his business; Seaburg is an avid outdoorsman and has summited Mount Rainier twice. He also enjoys waterskiing and scuba diving.

Seaburg said he became an optometrist because he was “always good at science” and wanted to do something medical.

“I had a good eye doctor,” he added. “I saw my eye doctor every year, and it seemed like a good job.”

Having spent nearly five decades in the field, Seaburg said he’s seen a lot of change in the science of optometry.

“We didn’t use to be able to take pictures of the back of the eye, so we had to dilate everybody,” he explained. “… Cataracts, they used to have to cut into the eye and use stitches. Now, they still cut into the eye, but they do it in six minutes and they don’t stitch the eye.”

That’s his favorite part of his job, he added – how the field has grown from mostly vision exams and tests into something more medical.

“It’s cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, retinal detachments… we treat all that,” he said.

(In case you’re wondering, Seaburg has 20/20 vision, since he himself had cataract surgery.)

But it’s clear that Seaburg’s other passion about job is his patients, from the ones who have just started coming to the clinic to those he’s treated for decades.

“I saw a gal yesterday who’s 44, and the last time I saw her was when she was four,” he said. “You see them when they’re 12, and then they get married, and then they have kids, and then you see their kids. It’s pretty cool.”

His staff, too, he holds in high regard; there was a 25 year period where it was the same four or five workers.

“It’s warm, and patients come in and they see the same people in there and they call on the phone and know who they’re talking to,” Seaburg said. “It’s really nice that we did that.”

These reasons probably played no small part in the Enumclaw Vision Clinic being voted the city’s best optometry clinic in the Courier-Herald’s annual “Best Of” competition nine times; Seaburg said it always felt gratifying knowing his community believes he’s doing a good job.

Taking over his clinic is Dr. Nick Castanga.

“I’ve got some pretty big shoes to fill,” he said.

And what’s next for the good doctor?

He’s got eight grandkids, he said, and he’ll fill up his time watching them play sports.

“That’s pretty much my plan,” he said.