In Remembrance: James I. Gilman ’60MD Died on January 31 2026

James Irving Gilman passed away on January 31, 2026—his 92nd birthday—at the Denver Hospice. In the spirit of his lifelong devotion to medicine, he donated his body to the Colorado State Anatomical Board for medical education and research.

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Jim was the son of physician Ralph Gilman and Ruby Gilman.  He graduated from Harvard in 1956 and earned his medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine in 1960. After completing a rotating internship at the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver, he served with distinction in the US Navy, sailing the Pacific and south of the Antarctic Circle. He returned to Yale for a residency in anesthesia, followed by a fellowship in pediatric cardiology.

In 1966, Jim joined the faculty of Yale New Haven Hospital, helping to open one of the nation’s first pediatric intensive care units and meeting his future wife, Patricia Crane of Great Britain. They married on the Yale campus in 1968.

Drawn by his dream of practicing in a dedicated children’s hospital, Jim moved his family to Denver in 1974. In 1975, alongside Dr. James K. Todd, he cofounded Colorado’s first pediatric intensive care unit at The Children’s Hospital (TCH), while also directing emergency pediatric transport services across the West.

He retired from TCH in 1991 and earned a master of public health from the University of Utah, launching a second career of volunteer service. He participated in medical humanitarian missions to Ecuador, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, and Macedonia; spent 20 years preparing bird specimens in the zoology department of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science; and served as one of the inaugural ambassadors at Denver International Airport for more than two decades. An avid outdoorsman, he skied, hiked, and biked every paved mountain pass in Colorado.

Jim is preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Priscilla Gilman, MD.  

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Patricia; brothers Donald and Peter; sons Jason (Julie), Timothy (Frantiska), and Nicholas (Carrie) and daughter Alison (Doug); and grandchildren Rowan, Quinn, Kazi, Iggy, and Opal.

—Submitted by the family.