Marilyn Joyce Gifford – January 16, 2024

Marilyn Joyce Gifford, M.D. was born August 3, 1943, and died January 16, 2024, in Colorado Springs, Colorado at the age of 80.

Marilyn was born in Denver, Colorado, attended Aurora Central High School, and was a member of her High School Color Guard.

One of her great early memories was a high school summer trip to Europe over a summer with her parents and brothers. She never lost her love of travel and tried to see as much of the world as she could while balancing a busy professional career with her family life.

She started her undergraduate career at Stevens College in Missouri and became involved in competitive horseback riding. A genetics class got her more interested in science and combined with her love of animals, had her considering a career as a veterinarian. She had a deep desire for learning and continued to push herself academically.

She changed schools and continued her education and finished with an undergraduate degree from Michigan State. She attended Medical School at Mount Sinai in New York where she finished with a Medical Degree in Emergency Medicine, at a time when there were not many women in medicine at all and especially not in Emergency Medicine.

Dr. Gifford is a Veteran and served in the Navy, continuing her medical training while serving her country, which she loved so very much. While in the Navy, she was fortunate enough to have the thrilling experience of landing on an aircraft carrier!

Dr. Gifford moved to Boulder and worked in a medical center in Longmont. She then moved to Aurora and soon after, Colorado Springs.

Dr. Gifford worked in the Emergency Department at Memorial Hospital from 1980 to 2013. Despite very few women in Emergency Medicine, she became Medical Director of Emergency Services during this time and was instrumental in overseeing the hospital’s renovation.  During her Directorship, Memorial Hospital Central was the busiest Emergency Department in the state of Colorado. She worked long shifts at some of the busiest times and was responsible for hiring numerous physicians and nursing staff to Memorial throughout the years. Her days off frequently involved meetings for most of the day but she approached her job with determination and a smile because she truly loved the people she worked with and the city that she worked for. Dr. Gifford loved her job and took great pride in certifying paramedics to work on an ambulance or fire crew. Dr. Gifford’s certification signature meant that you had completed the very highest level of prehospital training standards, and that Dr. Gifford had your back. If you worked with Dr. Gifford, you were family in the very best sense of the word.

Dr. Gifford was very active in her community and held executive positions with El Paso County Medical Society (EPCMS) and the Colorado Medical Society (CMS) Her roles included:

CMS House of Delegates: 1984 – 1996, 2001 – 2015

CMS Board of Directors: 1996 – 1998

EPCMS Board President: 1993 – 1994

EPCMS Council on Legislation: 1994 – 1996

EPCMS Component Society Officers: 1991 – 1994

EPCMS Nominating Committee: 1991 – 1996

EPCMS Pre-Hospital Care Physician Advisory Committee: 1982 – 1993

Dr. Gifford was involved with fundamentally changing pre-hospital care in Colorado Springs.  She authored protocols used by ambulance and fire services to assist first responders in helping patients in Colorado Springs. Before these protocols, there were no widely accepted standards in our town on the approach to the patient in the prehospital setting. Dr. Gifford changed all that.

So many times, while out in her beloved Colorado Springs community, someone would come up to her and thank her for helping them through paramedic school or thank her for helping a loved one through a medical emergency. Her nurses never let an opportunity pass without telling her or her sons how much they appreciated working with her in the Emergency Department. She was a fierce defender of her colleagues and nursing staff, and they always had Dr. Gifford in their corner. She touched so many lives from nurses to doctors, paramedics to patients, her impact on this community will never be forgotten.

Dr. Gifford was also an amazing mother and grandmother. Despite running the busiest Emergency Department in the state, she always found time to attend her sons’ events. Her sons, Eric and Brian Caplan, both grew up in Colorado Springs and attended Cheyenne Mountain High School. Dr. Gifford could be seen frequently cheering them on at Ski Broadmoor (back in the day) or at school functions at Cheyenne Mountain. She was always very present throughout their childhood and had an amazing ability to balance her work-family life with her home-family life. Eric currently practices medicine in Colorado Springs, while Brian practices law in Denver. Dr. Gifford has 5 amazing grandchildren who she loves unconditionally.   She quickly took on a new physician-grandmother role and tended to her oldest grandson Connor’s very bent but not quite broken arm at a football game and was always happy to discuss medicine in general with the younger generation. She continued to cheer on her grandchildren from the sideline or logging in virtually to see Carson play football, Alaina at a dance competition, Piper playing drums or stacking cups, and Relic with a 2-year-old smile that would melt anyone’s heart. Her grandkids will always remember going to see the Symphony in Colorado Springs with Grandma Lynn. Marilyn’s world revolved around her work and her family. She was so unbelievably adept at managing both. Colorado Springs is a better place because of the efforts of Dr. Gifford. Her teachings will be carried on by generations of nurses, first responders, and physicians. She is truly an amazing woman, physician, daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, advocate, and friend. Her life was, in a word, exquisite.    

Marilyn Gifford is survived by:

Her brother, Steve Gifford and his wife Mimi Gifford of Arizona.

Her son, Eric Caplan and his wife Melissa Ewer of Colorado Springs and their children: Connor, Carson, and Alaina.

Her son, Brian Caplan and his wife Chris Caplan of Denver and their children: Piper and Relic.

Her long-term partner, Stanley Boehm.

She is preceded in death by her mother, Dorothy Gifford; father, Leslie A. Gifford; her brother, Leslie L. Gifford; and spouses: Robert Caplan and Daniel McKenna.

Services to be held January 22, 2024, at 2:00 pm at Shrine of Remembrance “America the Beautiful” Chapel, 1730 East Fountain Boulevard, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80910.

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