Bertha Wright was a nurse, which explains her dedication and practicality. She was a visiting nurse, which explains her understanding of need. Combined, these factors explain why it was Bertha Wright who, in 1912, set in motion the events that resulted in today's modern Children's Hospital Medical Center here. Miss Wright, 94, died Thursday in Palo Alto after a lengthy illness, 68 years after treating her first patient in what was to become Children's Hospital - a hastily cleaned barn from which the donkeys had only recently been evicted. It was Miss Wright who, in 1912, convened the first of the committee meeting that resulted in the purchase of an old mansion for the Eastbays first Baby Hospital. But it would take 15 months before the home could be renovated for hospital use, and Miss Wright knew the need was too urgent to wait. The estate's "carriage house" should serve as an interim clinic, she decided, so she donated the equipment needed and volunteered her services. Others donated funds for supplies and in June of 1913 the clinic opened. During that first year, Miss Wright treated 450 children from 325 families in 1,100 clinic calls and 2,425 home visits. In September of 1914 Baby Hospital was formally dedicated - the forbear of today's Children's Hospital. On Miss Wright's example, thousands of volunteers - doctors and lay people - built the hospital. Miss Wright, a native of San Francisco who never married, is survive by nephew, Allen Wright of Lafayette and niece Frances W Runnells of Piedmont, and three other nieces - Bertha Wright Bertillion, of Oakland; Mrs. Barbara Triqueiro, of San Jose and Mrs. Richard Bodding Sr., of Palo Alto. Memorial services will be at 11 a.m. Monday in the First Congregational Church, Embarcadero and Louis roads in Palo Alto, with arrangements through Roller and Hapgood 980 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto. The family prefers memorial contributions to Children's Hospital.

For further information on Bertha Wright https://oaklandwiki.org/Bertha_Wright

Bertha Wright was a nurse, which explains her dedication and practicality. She was a visiting nurse, which explains her understanding of need. Combined, these factors explain why it was Bertha Wright who, in 1912, set in motion the events that resulted in today's modern Children's Hospital Medical Center here. Miss Wright, 94, died Thursday in Palo Alto after a lengthy illness, 68 years after treating her first patient in what was to become Children's Hospital - a hastily cleaned barn from which the donkeys had only recently been evicted. It was Miss Wright who, in 1912, convened the first of the committee meeting that resulted in the purchase of an old mansion for the Eastbays first Baby Hospital. But it would take 15 months before the home could be renovated for hospital use, and Miss Wright knew the need was too urgent to wait. The estate's "carriage house" should serve as an interim clinic, she decided, so she donated the equipment needed and volunteered her services. Others donated funds for supplies and in June of 1913 the clinic opened. During that first year, Miss Wright treated 450 children from 325 families in 1,100 clinic calls and 2,425 home visits. In September of 1914 Baby Hospital was formally dedicated - the forbear of today's Children's Hospital. On Miss Wright's example, thousands of volunteers - doctors and lay people - built the hospital. Miss Wright, a native of San Francisco who never married, is survive by nephew, Allen Wright of Lafayette and niece Frances W Runnells of Piedmont, and three other nieces - Bertha Wright Bertillion, of Oakland; Mrs. Barbara Triqueiro, of San Jose and Mrs. Richard Bodding Sr., of Palo Alto. Memorial services will be at 11 a.m. Monday in the First Congregational Church, Embarcadero and Louis roads in Palo Alto, with arrangements through Roller and Hapgood 980 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto. The family prefers memorial contributions to Children's Hospital.

For further information on Bertha Wright https://oaklandwiki.org/Bertha_Wright