{HOME} {BERTNASH.ORG}	:: THE BEGINNING 1947-1964 Speaking to the Lion’s Club meeting on February 19, 1947, the forty-eight-year-old Nash collapsed. Rushed to Lawrence Memorial Hospital, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage at 2:25 a.m. on February 20th. Suddenly a dedicated and venerable leader was gone and the community was in shock. The next day at the Council of Social Agencies meeting, consciousness of Nash’s legacy was palpable. James M. Mott, an authority on preventative medicine, was the speaker. Abandoning his prepared remarks, Mott discussed Bert Nash and his work. In conclusion, he proposed the establishment of the mental health and guidance clinic Nash had long advocated. Three years of concentrated effort by many community leaders ensued before the Bert Nash Mental Health Clinic opened on July 5, 1950. One community leader, Marge Stockton, stated, “I doubt if there exists a better example of a community’s translation of its respect and affection for a devoted citizen into a living memorial to his memory.”  Given a modest budget of $6,528 the first year, finding a psychiatrist, psychiatric social worker, and psychologist proved challenging. KU Chancellor Franklin Murphy asked Watkins Hospital personnel to help staff the Clinic. In June 1950, Sigmund Gundle, a Vienna-born and Menninger-trained psychiatrist was named director of the Bert Nash Clinic to serve on a part-time basis (one half-day a week). In addition to his University position, Gundle addressed community groups about mental health issues on behalf of the Clinic for the next four years.		:: Marge (Mrs. Frank) Stockton, one of the founders of the Bert Nash Clinic, was remembered by former Lawrence mayor Ted Kennedy “as one of those people in the Lawrence community who could get things done.” (Courtesy University Archives, University of Kansas Libraries) :: Psychiatrist Sigmund Gundle was the first director of the Bert Nash Mental Health Clinic. (Courtesy University Archives, University of Kansas Libraries)