Robert Phelps

Robert Ward Phelps, loving husband, father and grandfather, passed away peacefully at his mountain home on October 30, 2021 at the age of 77 with his wife, Carol, and daughter, Juliana, by his side.

Bob was born on April 19, 1944, to Eloise Ward and Orva Lewis Phelps. During his childhood in Pueblo, Colorado, he played both marimba and piano, he was a ham radio operator, became an Eagle Scout, and often visited family in the foothills outside of Denver. It was through these visits that Bob acquired a love of the mountains, which he maintained throughout his life.

After graduating from Pueblo South High school, he attended Colorado College where he met Carol Erbisch of Denver, who also had a great love of the Colorado mountains. They were married on December 28, 1968 outdoors in Genesee Park amid the snow-covered pines. Bob received his PhD from Stanford University in Biophysics and then an MD from the University of Rochester in New York. Soon after the birth of their first daughter, Bob and Carol moved to Denver, where Bob completed his anesthesiology residency at the University of Colorado. He became an associate professor at UC Health and School of Medicine, with a special interest in technology and an advocate for patient safety.

From an early age, Bob had a great interest in computers and technology and took on much of the IT responsibilities for the anesthesia department. He was even asked to be on call for New Years 2000 in case of a hospital-wide computer crash due to Y2K. After his retirement from clinical practice, he continued to work as an IT administrator for the hospital and was involved in setting up the new computerized anesthesia record for the entire UCH system.

Bob was also a man of many talents. In addition to his passion for learning and using new computer languages, databases and operating systems, he could fix anything. He could do plumbing, carpentry, tile and electrical work, and even put in the entire electrical service for a second story addition on their Denver home in 1984. His family got used to never having to call a repairman for anything, and both daughters are perfectly capable of doing small home repairs thanks to his teaching.

In his free time, Bob was an avid hiker, skier, and outdoorsman. He spent most weekends with his family in the mountains at their second home in Elk Falls Ranch. His daughters hold fond memories of family hikes through the wilderness to the magnificent waterfall, Elk Falls, which is now a highlight of the adjacent Staunton State Park. On one of his childhood visits to his beloved aunt’s house at Elk Falls Ranch at age 12, Bob fell off the top of the waterfall while attempting to take a picture of the bottom. He survived with a broken femur, but recovered well and continued to enjoy hiking for most of the rest of his life. Elk Falls continues to be a very important place for Bob’s family.

In his retirement, Bob was an active volunteer at Staunton State Park. He most enjoyed assisting in trail building and small construction in the early development of the park. The track chair program allowed Bob to enjoy the park with his family when he became too weak to hike on his own.

Bob and Carol also loved traveling together and with their daughters. They traveled all over Europe, especially enjoying Rick Steves tours, as well as to Russia, Turkey, Israel, India and Peru. They even biked Crete one year, with Bob managing to keep up with the hard-core cyclists. They spent much of the last few years traveling to Germany to visit their daughter and family, until the Covid pandemic made that no longer possible. His dream of seeing his daughter and grandchildren again was finally realized this past August, when they were able to fly over to the U.S. to visit while he was still relatively healthy.

Bob will be deeply missed by his wife, Carol Phelps; daughters, Juliana Phelps, and Sarah Thimm (Matthias), of Minden, Germany; and grandchildren, Eloise and Logan Thimm. He is further survived by his sister, brother-in-law and niece, Kathy, Robert and Jennifer Lovell, of East Lansing, MI, as well as many other friends and family members.

The family would like to thank the doctors and nurses of the Cancer Center at UC Health as well as the staff at Mount Evans Home Health Care and Hospice for their support and care throughout Bob’s illness.

If you would like to make a gift in Bob’s name, please consider one of the following:

Mount Evans Home Health Care and Hospice, 3081 Bergen Peak Drive, Evergreen, CO 80439, www.MountEvans.org (http://www.MountEvans.org) .

The Cancer Center General Research Fund at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Please send your gift in memory of Robert Phelps, MD to: University of Colorado Foundation, PO Box 17126, Denver CO 80217. On the memo line of the check, please note Robert’s name and make it payable to the CU Foundation. Gifts may also be made online at https://giving.cu.edu/RobertPhelps or https://giveto.cu.edu/campaigns/48875/donations/ .

If you cannot make a gift, please give someone you love a back rub in Bob’s memory (one of his favorite things!)

The family would also very much welcome adding your stories and memories of Bob in the comments below.