I came to research Dr. Bunch after the museum was contacted by SLV Health to use his medical tools for their 90th Year Anniversary display. The Luther Bean Museum acquired the medical tools in 1989 by a donation made by his family. The objects date from the time of Dr. Bunch’s practice in Alamosa from 1952 into the 1980s.
The process to loan objects out from the museum involves a request form, which lists the items that will be on loan. The credit line is noted for the labels i.e. Loan from Luther Bean Museum, Gift of Littleton J. Bunch, M.D. The form is signed by a representative from SLV Health acknowledging receipt of the objects and by a staff person from the museum. I photographed the instruments before they left the museum. The photographs will show the condition in which they left and also what objects were taken by hospital for their display. I had the privilege of accompanying Tawney in taking the instruments to the hospital.
Dr. Bunch came to Alamosa because of his love for the west and the atmosphere of small towns. He wrote letters to hospitals in small towns in Colorado. The administrator of the Alamosa hospital Elton Reese was the only person who responded suggesting that he come to Alamosa for a visit. The Bunch family drove into town pulled into a gas station where a college student was pumping gas. The college student was asked if Alamosa was a good place to live. This college student was former Adams State College coach, Dr. Joe Vigil who responded to this question by stating that Alamosa was a great town and recommended it highly. Dr. Bunch received job offers from hospitals around the valley, the deciding factor for him to choose Alamosa was that the hospital was near the college. The Bunch family made their home in Alamosa in 1952 where he began practicing medicine as a family doctor.
The college atmosphere attracted Dr. Bunch that he volunteered as a teacher at Adams State where he taught biology classes. Later he taught medical terminology for those who were in the pre-med program. Dr. Bunch taught from the 1950s to the 1980s. When the college’s athletic doctor left for two years to receive more medical training Dr. Bunch became the temporary doctor.
