Four decades is no small amount of time to commit to any venture whether it be knitting, skiing, or whittling and undoubtedly results in an individual expertly carved in their chosen devotion.
For Dr. Gary Mohr, that has been the pursuit of making his community healthier one patient at a time.
Born and raised in Pennsylvania, he was delivered by a family doctor (Dr. David Keck) that would, someday, serve as his medical mentor and friend. Keck delivered Mohr, as well as his four sisters, and believed in the now-dead practice of making house calls and staying in close cahoots with his patients -- a practice that Mohr kept close to his heart.
When the time came, Mohr was accepted to Keck's alma mater, Thomas Jefferson University in Pennsylvania, to pursue his medical degree.
"When I got accepted...I went to his office...I was so proud and he said, 'Nobody goes into medical anymore,'" Mohr recalled with a smile. "He thought the golden age of medicine was over."
Though slightly deflated, Mohr committed to his lifelong dream of becoming a doctor and Keck proved to be a valuable friend and mentor. In fact, Mohr spent time at Keck's office as a medical student and was even offered to take over Keck's practice.
However, the grandeur of Colorado beckoned to Mohr from a thousand miles away.
He recalls the moment he fell in love with the Centennial State.
"We drove up Mt. Evans and the sign said we were at 10,000 feet. I'm from 600 feet elevation and I thought, 'This air looks no different than that air.'"
He proceeded to run full-tilt down a stretch of road and it was then the Colorado altitude decided to punish him but also captured Mohr under a lifelong spell.
Mohr has successfully climbed more than 30 14ers, as well as the prestigious Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Compared to Colorado's 14ers, he commented that climbing Kilimanjaro was easy. He also had the opportunity to be the doctor for a party of 60 Americans that climbed Mt. Everest. As a point of irony, Mohr was the only one that got sick on that particular trip -- but it resulted in wonderful memories, regardless.
Shortly after his first trip to Colorado, he was invited to be a doctor at the Florence Hospital, where he specialized in Obstetrics but a year later, in 1983, he moved his practice to 730 Macon Ave. and has remained there for the past 39 years. He still delivered babies for the first 15 years of his solo practice (delivering at least 1,000) and has, conservatively, conducted about 200,000 patient visits through the years.
"We see so many nice people," Mohr said fondly, "My wife says, 'every day people tell you how wonderful you are and how you saved their lives and you delivered their babies -- I won't be able to do that for you every day.'"
Mohr met his wife, Christina, in grade school and reconnected when he returned to Pennsylvania for a high school reunion.
"I asked her out to dinner that night and she told me later, 'Well, I knew right then that we were going to get married,'" he said.
True to Christina's desire, the two have been happily married for 20 years and share eight children and 12 grandchildren. Their children are scattered across the country and each lead a successful life, which is all Mohr and Christina hoped for them.
The past 40 years have passed in a blur for Mohr. He recalls a time when up to 40 private practice doctors of all specialties had offices in Fremont County and when it was easy to pick up the phone to call in any prescription to a pharmacy. Though those days are gone, Mohr prides himself in partaking in the difficult world of medicine and for providing medical care for those in need for nearly half a century.
"I realize I'm a dinosaur," he said with a smile. "Dr. Keck called himself a dinosaur...the thing I love about it is that my patients know I only work for them. I don't owe allegiance to a government program or an insurance company or a hospital...that's why it's important for me to keep that model alive."
In accordance with keeping the private practice model afloat, Mohr has found an able successor in Nurse Practitioner Leslie Nelson, who will head up his practice. Nelson has been in Fremont County for 16 years and has served as both an ER and ICU nurse and, according to Mohr, possesses a like mindset to him in her approach to medicine.
Mohr's office employees, friends, patients, and family all came together on Oct. 8 for his official retirement party -- an event that cultivated many laughs, tears, and recollections of fond memories.
"I felt like George Bailey (from 'It's a Wonderful Life') because everyone was hugging and crying and saying, 'We're going to miss you,' and 'Good luck,' it was just a wonderful party," he said.
He likely will always have some sort of presence at his old office and will leave behind a plethora of community-minded involvements, such as the County Medical Association, the State Medical Society, and others. However, that doesn't mean he plans to be idle.
He'll continue to volunteer for the County Medical Association and plans to conduct ultrasounds at the Westcliffe Pregnancy Center.
Both he and Christina look forward to spending time at their Westcliffe retirement home and traveling the world. They're currently anticipating a trip to Antarctica.
Additionally, the two enjoy just about any outdoor activity, and Mohr is currently taking piloting lessons.
"It's always fun to learn something new," he said about the unusual venture.
Fremont County owes a considerable debt to Mohr as four decades is no small amount of time to commit one's life but, thankfully, he plans to remain a lifelong member of the community regardless of whether he's in the office, on a mountaintop, or flying through the Colorado skies.
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