OTHELLO — The Othello community recently lost a physician who played a key role in many residents’ lives – from birth to death – and in the area for more than half a century.

Dr. Richard Bunch died Nov. 10 at 84 years of age. He was a physician in Othello from 1962 until his retirement in 2014.

He delivered three and perhaps four generations of babies for some families, and the obstetrics unit at Othello Community Hospital was named in his honor.

“I can’t tell you how many babies he delivered, because we lost count,” said OCH chief executive officer Connie Agenbroad.

His son Mark said, “He was kind of a mainstay to the medical community in Othello. He touched a lot of lives.”

Bunch’s medical philosophy, Mark said, was based on the idea that doctors should pay attention to what the patient has to say.

“His emphasis was listening to his patients,” Mark added, explaining as well as he could the solutions for their problem.

“Be attuned to their (the patients’) needs,” Mark said. “He had a pretty loyal following because of that.”

The Bunch family arrived in Othello at the invitation of pioneer Othello physician Ken Pershall. Doc Pershall, as he was widely known, opened his practice in Othello in 1955.

Othello was experiencing explosive growth in 1962, and Dr. Pershall needed help.

“He (Pershall) recruited my dad, and they were a real strong partnership for 15 years,” Mark said.

There was plenty to keep two doctors busy.

“They were just crushed by the demand for care,” Mark said.

His father was very dedicated. If he wasn’t home, he was at work.

”He loved being a medical provider,” Mark said. “He loved delivering babies, too. He delivered a lot of babies.”

Agenbroad was one of Bunch’s patients and so was her late son Sean.

“I could never have asked for a better doctor than Dr. Bunch,” Agenbroad said.

Richard Bunch stayed with the family every step of the way as Sean fought leukemia. Once when Sean needed a quick X-ray, Dr. Bunch took Sean to OCH in his own car, carried Sean inside and stayed with him until the procedure was finished.

“He was such a caring physician. His patients came before anybody else,” Agenbroad said. “I don’t know there will ever be another Dr. Bunch.”

“He was a very kind and gentle man,” Mark said. “He had his sense of humor. He loved to have fun. He did a lot of work, but he liked to have fun, too.”

Hunting was one of his passions, both with his sons and with his friends.

“Every deer season, every elk season, he had a gang to go hunting with,” Mark said.

He was an equally enthusiastic fisherman, and he had a wide range of interests, from aviation to music.

“We (his children) got to spend some good quality time with him, doing what he loved to do,” Mark said.

Bunch opened the 14th Street Clinic in 1984, and eventually his son Randel joined him in the practice in 1991. Richard joined the Columbia Basin Health Association practice in 2004, retired from active practice in 2016 and continued as a clinical mentor until 2019.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].