Colin Gage

Colin Campbell Gage, 62, of Kansas City, Missouri passed away on Thursday, August 27, 2015, after a 15 month long struggle with lung cancer.Colin was born on August 25, 1953 in Kansas City, Kansas to Frank Hires Gage and Carolyn Campbell Babcock and grew up in the Brookside neighborhood of Kansas City, attending Border Star Elementary and Southwest High School, graduating in 1971. Proudly following in a long family tradition, he attended the University of Kansas (intermittently), eventually earning a Bachelor's degree in Education in 1977 and a Juris Doctorate in 1983 and paying off his student loans at the age of 49. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and counted as lifelong friends many of those he met in Lawrence during the fifteen memorable years he lived there.After stints as a grade school teacher, district court law clerk, attorney and U.S. Senate staffer in Nancy Kassebaum's Topeka office, Colin moved back to Kansas City for good in 1985 to take a job at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, but primarily to be closer to Laura Turner. They had met two years before while they were both working at the Jackson County Courthouse. In this case, absence did indeed make the hearts grow fonder and they wed on September 27, 1986.Colin worked at UMKC for almost thirty years before his retirement in April, 2015. Hired initially to create a real estate office within the University to manage its rental holdings, he eventually became responsible for property sales and acquisitions, leases and other administrative functions, becoming Director of Business Services in 1989. At the time of his retirement, he served as campus liaison to the UM General Counsel's office with respect to most University contracts. He served two terms as UMKC's representative on the board of the Southtown Council and acted as the organization's president in 1989.A journeyman poet since his youth, Colin was a published songwriter/lyricist. He was an avid gardener and chef. He loved bird hunting (pheasant, turkey, dove) with his buddies at the Bar C ranch outside of Sylvan Grove in Lincoln County, Kansas. One of his great joys in the last years of his life was the resurgence of his Kansas City Royals. And, in 2005, after numerous travels together over the years, he and Laura finally discovered their home away from home when they made their first visit to Ambergris Caye, off the coast of Belize. Over the course of the next ten years, they made fourteen trips and innumerable close friends and wonderful memories. Sun, sand, post rocks, prairies, mountains and, always, music . . . Colin was not one to complain about where his life took him and he made the most of his days. He considered himself a fortunate man, for his life was blessed with so much love and laughter and, truly, is there ever enough time?Colin was predeceased by his parents and by his stepfather, Frank O. Babcock.He is survived by his beloved wife of 29 years Laura Turner Gage, brother Hires W. Gage, DVM and his wife Gail Horner Gage of Prairie Village, Kansas, sister Betse M. Gage, MD and her husband William Chase, MD of Overland Park, Kansas, sister Georganne Gage Walters of Charlotte, North Carolina, and eleven nieces and nephews. Burial will be by cremation. A visitation for family and friends will be held from 4 to7 p.m. on Friday, September 11, 2015 with Selected Remembrances at 5:30 p.m. at Muehlebach Funeral Home, 6800 Troost Avenue, Kansas City MO 64131. A Celebration of Life (a/k/a party) will be held at a later date at a location to be determined.In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Wayside Waifs, 3901 Martha Truman Rd, Kansas City, MO 64137 or to the Southtown Foundation, 6814 Troost Ave, Kansas City, MO 64131.


Selected Remembrances will begin at 5:30 PM. SERVICES Memorial Service
Friday, September 11, 2015 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Muehlebach Chapel 6800 Troost Avenue Kansas City, Missouri 64131

Selected Remembrances will begin at 5:30 PM.