Phillip Carl Gans – 50th Reunion Essay

Phillip Carl Gans

25805 Columbine Glen Avenue

Golden, CO 80401

pgans@pgans.com

303-883-7169

Spouse(s): Patricia Moffatt Gans (1975)

Child(ren): Sara Gans Blue (1978), Mika Gans (1980), Max Gans (1988)

Grandchild(ren): Tucker Blue (2007), Henry Blue (2009), Kennedy Blue (2014), Levi Matley (2010), Hattie Matley (2012), Poppy Matley (2014)

Education: Yale University, 1969; Yale Law School, 1972

Career: I have practiced law in Denver, Colorado since graduating law school in 1972. I have been a sole practitioner since 1991. I am mostly retired now.

Avocations: I do fitness classes, yoga, and the Stairmaster. I used to bike and will probably get back to that starting this summer. I do a lot of scuba diving, mostly in Asia (Indonesia and the Philippines).

College: Silliman

I have to say I have had a great life. I have enjoyed each phase, each period and each adventure. I have been blessed with good health, great family and sufficient prosperity.

I stayed in New Haven for law school and became a freshman counselor. I enjoyed the intellectual stimulation of law school and even liked New Haven. I decided that I did not want to go to a big city after law school and headed west to Denver, where I could live in a more manageable city. It took a few years to adjust to the idea of working regular hours and the rigors of a fixed schedule and pleasing bosses. I took up an easy specialty, real estate, and have been practicing it since 1972. I am now only working part time, still a sole practitioner.

I get to travel a lot. I have been doing a number of scuba diving trips per year and get to all kinds of neat places, including Indonesia and the Philippines. I enjoy the beauty of reefs and ocean life. I am also trying to do other traveling, which I enjoy. I do trips with my grandchildren, and those trips are especially fun.

I am in good enough shape (fortunately) that I can do exercise classes and yoga regularly. That helps me stay relatively healthy. I don’t eat healthy, so it is a good thing I can exercise.

I am fortunate to have the same spouse for over 40 years and that my two daughters and my six grandkids live close by. My son is not far away: Utah. I get to see my daughters and grandkids often and regularly. I get to do a yearly raft trip with my son, who is a whitewater raft guide, and visit him in Utah.

One of the things that I loved about Yale was its diversity. I learned to appreciate and admire people with totally dissimilar interests and skills to mine. I still truly appreciate people who are different from me, and I like finding positive aspects in them. When I travel, I appreciate the different cultures that are so different than mine.