Richard "Dick" Strother Little

Richard Strother Little (Dick) – September 24, 1927 to December 6, 2019: Dick served in the U.S. Navy during WWII aboard the Destroyer Henry W. Tucker.He later attended Auburn University where he received his commission from Army ROTC to serve in the 82nd Airborne Corps during the Korean War.

Married in 1953 in Trinity Episcopal Church to Patsy Jeanne De Witt. He worked 22 years for Southern Industries Corporation.

In 1975, he took a job as Executive Director of the 310 Board (Greater Mobile-Washington County Mental Health Mental Retardation, Inc. (presently AltaPointe) for 25 years before retiring in 1997, serving as a board consultant until he died. A life well lived, “Pop” will be greatly missed by his wealth of 5 children, 17 grandchildren, and 14 great grandchildren.

Dick was preceded in death by his mother Clara Ross Little, his father Con Roberts Little and 5 siblings, Kathrine Little Armbrecht (William), Con Roberts Little, Jr. (Virginia) (Dixie), Mary Little Mitchell (Ferd), William Ross Little (Marcie Ann), Colleen Little, Clara Hughes Little Frazer Smith (Danner) (Greg).

He is survived by his wife, Patsy Jeanne DeWitt Little and his 5 children, Patrick Ross Little (Angel) Lucille Strother Little Holmes Dees (Andy), John DeWitt Little (Marianne) Mary Hughes Little Taylor, and Patsy Jeanne Little Citrin (Andy), 17 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers the family suggest donations to St. Paul Church-Wilmer Hall or a charity of your choosing.

Please visit www.radneyfuneralhome-mobile for full article of The History of Mental Health in Mobile and the Legacy of Dick Little.

A Memorial Service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 14, 2019 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Mobile, AL. Private Interment in Magnolia Cemetery was held.

The History of Mental Health in Mobile and the Legacy of Dick Little

With a career spanning over twenty-eight years, from 1975-2003, Richard S. Little’s success has positively affected the community and is reflected in the array of mental health, mental retardation and substance abuse services provided by ten local non-profit agencies.

[Mobile, AL – March 8, 2004] — The Greater Mobile-Washington County Mental Health-Mental Retardation Board Inc., commonly known as the 310 Board and now doing business as the Mobile Mental Health Center Inc., publicly recognizes the work of Richard S. Little, 76, who retired January 1, 2004.

As the first and only executive director of a board responsible for funding over $20 million annually for mental illness, mental retardation and substance abuse services in Mobile and Washington Counties, Little is an example of a true advocate for those in need. Throughout his career with the 310 Board, Little devoted his efforts to making sure those in need of critical mental health services were provided for equitably through a network of local agencies. As he eases into retirement, Little’s work continues to make a positive impact on our community’s quality of life. Thanks to his thoughtful leadership and careful planning, our local mental health services have developed a strong base from which to grow and thrive.

Many local non-profit organizations that exist in Mobile today, such as the Mobile Association for Retarded Citizens, Mobile Mental Health Center, Salvation Army’s Dauphin Way Lodge, among others, benefited from funds obtained and distributed by the 310 Board,” said Tuerk Schlesinger, executive director, Mobile Mental Health Center Inc.

Mobile’s 310 Board was established in 1975 as directed by Act 310 of the 1967 regular session of the Alabama state legislature. Seventeen regions, each with its own 310 Board, were established throughout the state after the Act passed, placing responsibility for planning, implementation and provision of day-to-day mental health services in the hands of local communities. Mobile’s 310 Board, composed of community volunteers appointed by Mobile and Washington County governments, serves as a conduit for federal, state, city and county funding.

At the time the board was established, the Mobile community had a few agencies already providing mental health services on a limited basis, such as a small mental health center, Mobile Association for Retarded Citizens (MARC), and Catholic Charities. According to former Board Member David deGruy, Mobile quickly became a “model for the state.” While funding for social services is always tight, the number of agencies providing services and the amount of local funding they received, grew substantially under Little’s watchful eye.

Today, the ten local organizations that fall under the umbrella of Act 310, serve 20,000 people annually in direct services for mental illness, mental retardation and substance abuse. When considering those who benefit from prevention-related services, the number climbs to nearly 100,000 local people who are positively impacted by the work of the 310 Board (now operating as Mobile Mental Health Center).

The Beginning

Little graduated from Murphy High School in Mobile at the age of 17 and promptly joined a Navy cadet-training program near the end of World War II. When the war ended, he attended Auburn University to study industrial management. He joined the 82nd Airborne Division during the Korean War, but never saw conflict. While working for Southern Industry Corporation, Little lived in St. Louis, Baltimore and Chicago, before eventually returning to Mobile in the early 60s.

After facing uncertain employment, Little took on the role of executive director of the 310 Board in 1975 thinking the job would be a temporary one. Without direct experience in social services, Little embraced his new role and learned as much as he could quickly. His business experience, however, paid off as his careful planning, budgeting and business perspective led him to implement ideas that provided steady funding and a broad base of local support.

“The community has benefited from Dick Little,” said deGruy, long-time associate and former Board member. “Under his leadership, there has been more local funding of mental health services than any other region in the state.”

310 Board Milestones

Cigarette Tax

Over the years, the board established a good relationship with the local delegation to Alabama’s state legislature and, in 1987, was instrumental in developing and passing Act 558, a tax on cigarettes, that provided substantial revenue for local mental health services.

“At a time when there was no money for capital expenditures in the mental health arena, Dick was able to get a cigarette tax passed. The tax generates three-quarters of a million dollars each year and, at the time, significantly broadened the ability of the 310 Board to provide facilities and services for local people in need,” said Schlesinger.

Bond Issue

In the early 1990s, the board developed a bond issue dedicating a portion of cigarette tax revenue for the purpose of acquiring or building facilities for mental health services in the community. The State Department of Mental Health provided some funds with the proviso that if the local 310 Board could earn over 50 percent of the cost of any facility, the title of those properties would remain in the community, not with the state.

“In every case where we acquired something, we paid 51 percent using bond issue revenue,” said Little. Therefore, all of the assets generated during this program, belong to this community and to the various agencies supported by 310 funds.

A few buildings purchased using these bond funds were later sold and these assets, along with other local contributions, were used to purchase newer, expanded facilities, such as the purchase of the old Charter Hospital on Knollwood Drive. This facility, now BayPointe Residential Services, provides services for children, adolescents and adults, and operates as a division of Mobile Mental Health Center.

Today, the 310 Board operating under the name Mobile Mental Health Center, oversees a budget of $30.5 million in funds designated for mental health, mental retardation and substance abuse services.

A Man of Integrity and Grace Retires

Everyone who has worked with Little, whether professionals with mental health agencies, local government officials, or the people who benefited from these services, believe he brought something special to the table that allowed him to have a tremendous impact on our community.

Virginia Guy, executive director of the Drug Education Council, one of the agencies that benefited from Little’s planning and funding efforts, said, “He has helped so many people in ways they will never know by being able to leverage the support of the programs, bring together people from the federal, state and local levels, the consumers, the service providers, everybody. It is a tremendous talent.”

“He is humble, but he brought it all together. Not just anyone would have been able to do that. He wasn’t political, he was fair, honest, built up a tremendous amount of trust,” Guy continued.

Mayor Mike Dow agreed wholeheartedly that Little would be missed. “Dick seemed to take a little bit of resource and make it go a long way. On several occasions we were able to get him additional funding based on his dedication and his intent in serving people. You could sense that he had a mission and he got you involved in that mission in a very professional way,” he said.

One of Little’s closest colleagues, Beverly Waite, his secretary for over twenty-eight years, describes him this way, “Mr. Little is truly a people person, who always makes a good impression and is able to work well with everyone. When he takes on a project and says he is going to do something, he does it.”

People could just count on Dick Little. Whether it was articulately telling the story of great needs for mental health services within the community to city and county officials, working with the agencies to do more with less by carefully planning and executing a thoughtful strategy, or creatively finding new sources of revenue from state and federal grants, Little seemed to have the right blend of talent, personality, experience and knowledge to make things happen in our community.

Little, quick to divert any credit for the board’s success, explained, “In our work, we always found the city and county governments most responsive. They were very gracious in their funding of mental health services in this community, and to my knowledge, we have generated the largest local financial commitment in the state of Alabama.”

Virginia Guy perhaps put it best when she said, “The folks we serve are desperately in need of services and there is not enough funding. Mr. Little was always an advocate for the best use of funding and those were some very difficult decisions to make. Mr. Little had a feel for all of that, of everything, he knew the federal channels of money, the politics, the laws. From people served to providers to funding sources, he helped connect the dots and he will be missed.”

In 2001, the State Department of Mental Health developed a new criterion that requires any 310 Board in the state to also be a provider of services. Since its inception, the Mobile-Washington County 310 Board had always operated as an independent entity, but the new rules led to the merger of the Board with Mobile Mental Health Center. Now, the Center, as with other 310 Boards in the state, operates as the regional contractor for federal, state and local funding.

So it is an end of an era. Little’s story has become the story of our city’s path toward services for those with mental illness, mental retardation and substance abuse. Dick Little has left a legacy that includes ten very effective non-profit organizations that provide services to thousands of people each year and numerous buildings that now belong to our local community—a legacy Mobile can be proud of.

As the Mobile Mental Health Center continues the work Little began, the foundation is strong and the commitment he had for his job provided the necessary framework and stability that paves the way for continued success.