G. Robert Gage and Patricia Miller Gage - Community Hero Award

Contech Engineered Solutions is pleased to present the Atrium Medical Center Foundation 2013 Community Hero Award to G. Robert Gage and Patricia Miller Gage. Bob Gage came to Middletown through his work, but grew to love the city. He earned his reputation as an outstanding businessman, great leader, visionary and friend.

Jean Ann Kiefhaber: We met Bob Gage in 1960 actually at a party, and he was dancing. He loved to dance. And I think he danced for the next 45 years.

Anne McNeill: What I really appreciate about Bob Gage is how much he loved life. His joie de vivre.

Jim Snyder: Bob was, first of all, a “stand-up” guy. He was intelligent, honorable, he was the kind of man you’d want to have as your friend. And he would stand by you always. He was great to travel with. We cycled together a lot. He really enjoyed that. Our crowning achievement in cycling – we went from Vail to the top of Vail Pass, which was 10,600 feet and we were quite proud of ourselves. It was tarnished a little because on the way because on the way up we had, uh, on a particularly steep stretch, we were passed by a young lady…and she was running!

Patty Gage is known for her passion for her family and friends, untiring volunteer work and leadership, as well as her affection for her hometown and her country.

Jean Ann Kiefhaber: She’s dedicated to family, Middletown, country and without tiring. She’s an amazing person, marvelous friend and Middletown’s really lucky to have her, particularly the hospital. Of course she’s a born teacher. So, these grandchildren she has are very lucky. She’s so good with them. We have a joke that in our next life we want to come back as Patty’s grandchildren. 

Dr. Kiefhaber: Her pride in our country, her pride in her school, her pride in our town, our city. During the construction of the hospital when the cranes were there and the girders were sort of naked, she said, “We’ve got to get an American Flag on that.” And sure enough, she bought it I think.

Nancy Fraunfelter: Patty has so many wonderful qualities, but I think the ones that stand out to me are she’s so generous, and she’s dedicated and very organized. And she just has a beautiful, she’s beautiful inside. It’s so easy to be her friend.

Aimee Snyder: When she does something, she really goes all out to do it and do it well. And her mother was a volunteer at the hospital and I think that’s probably how she got to be a volunteer.

Together, Patty and Bob Gage felt a sense of responsibility that propelled them to share so much of their lives with the people of Middletown.

Jim Snyder: A community is only as good as the people in it. And Patty and Bob were the best of people. They worked at things that a lot of other people would not do. And they did it well. And the community prospered because of them.

Kitty Hardin: Well, they were always free to offer their home for gatherings.

Bill Hardin: And it was a very warm and inviting place to go there. They just made you feel at home, and they were so happy you were there.

Kitty Hardin: They’d greet you with a smile.

Jim: Right, so you were just comfortable from the get-go.

Nancy Miller Fraunfelter: Well, they were a good fit. They just were able to back each other up in the endeavors that they pursued. And Middletown is a better place because of the team that they were.

In 1986, Bob’s visionary nature helped him lead a management team to develop Contech Engineered Solutions into a respected, national corporation.

Doug McNeill: He took a division of Armco and turned it into something new and different and vital so in a way that it had its own different set of potentials which he and his colleagues were soon to realize.

Don Henderson: Well, I would think you would certainly have to say the creation and growth of Contech Construction Products would have to be the singular greatest achievement of his working career I would believe. Just look at Bob’s record not only from the business standpoint of view, but the things that he’s done in the community, for the hospital, for Meals on Wheels, for the Community Foundation, for the Arts in this community. All of these things indicate that Bob had a tremendous interest in the community and didn’t just support it financially but he supported it with his own work and time.

Carol Turner: He always wanted to make sure that the decisions we made were the right thing for our patients and the right thing for our medical staff. And he never lost sight of that.

Bob and Patty Gage shared a vision that enhancing the hospital would have a long-lasting, positive effect on the community.

Doug McNeill: They both believed, deeply, that the hospital was very important to the fabric of the community. That without good schools and a good hospital, for example, you couldn’t have as high a high quality of life. Iin my view, Bob was the central figure in the vision and development of Atrium Medical Center. He had a deep desire to see the hospital reach its full potential.

Doug McNeill: So, I think that Bob would be very proud today to see how that vision has been realized.

Carolyn Henderson: He would love it! He would think it was beautiful and he would dance the night away at the Gala!