George Belsey

George Belsey, 85, passed away peacefully on March 27 in Highlands Ranch, CO. A devoted companion, father, grandfather and friend, as well as a talented and successful leader in healthcare organizations, George lived his life in such a way that the comment most often heard at his death was, “he was such a good man.”

George was born in Detroit on July 11,1939 to Draxy Trengove Belsey and William Belsey. The family quickly moved to Los Angeles, CA and George considered himself a native Californian who, despite his mother’s death when he was four, had a happy childhood with a supportive father and loving caregivers, playing mostly outside in the sunshine and fishing. His father married Joan Brooks when George was 11 and she became mother to him and his younger siste, Draxy.

A devoted family man, George was preceded in death by his wife of 55 years, Phee Blair Belsey, in 2016, and earlier the death of their daughter Heather. He is survived by his companion Michele (Mike) Bloom, with whom he lived at Wind Crest Senior Community, by sons Kevin, of Brookfield, IL, and Eric, of Littleton, CO, granddaughters Parley, Lauren and Hayley Belsey, brother Bill Belsey and sister Brook (Belsey) Barry and many nieces and nephews.

Although his early love of sports would lead him to success in football and track in high school and college, and make him a lifelong participant in and spectator of all kinds of sports, George’s career aspirations led to a successful career in management of major health care organizations in three states. An early encounter, through a fraternity service program at DePauw University, from which he graduated in 1961, caused him to set his sights on health care organizations. Touring a hospital, George started wondering about the challenge of managing such complex organizations, including asking himself, “who keeps this place clean?”

Asked recently what helped him become so successful, George described his highest values as honesty and truth. He credited an early mentor, Army Colonel Gibbs, for teaching him by example to see and foster potential in people working for him. After George's three years in the U.S. Army, Colonel Gibbs recruited him into a new MBA program in health care management at George Washington University in Washington, DC. In 1966 George was one of the first graduates to receive this degree in the new field of professional hospital administration. He spent the next 13 years in management at three Chicago hospitals, including Northwestern University Hospital, then was CEO of the University of Utah hospital for eight years.

George never forgot his earliest lessons. His son Kevin remembers that when he would go with his Dad to ‘the big hospital,” George knew and greeted kindly and with personal reference everyone including the doorman and the person mopping the floor, the nurses on the patient units and the highest -ranking doctors and surgeons. George said he believed his most important job as a leader was to be aware of everything around him, to listen well and to understand people and to help them understand how their work connected to what he was trying to accomplish as leader of the large organization.

George served as executive vice president of the American Hospital Association from 1990-92, leaving to become Board Chair and CEO of Air Methods Corp, a national air medical operator based in Denver. He stepped down as CEO in 2003 but remained as a consultant to the company until 2008 and on the board until 2015. David Kikumoto, who followed George as Chairman of Air Methods said that George was an excellent leader and a very thoughtful executive while steering the organization to a successful business. " He was always professional, calm and present. His demeanor was so likable everyone in organization found him approachable. He clearly understood the difference between governance and management and recruited exceptional talent to serve on the Board which helped shape the company into the largest air medical provider in the World."

After retirement, George brought the same energy, enthusiasm and talent to volunteer activities as he had to his career. He was an active member of First Universalist Church of Denver, serving as chair of its board and a key player in a major church project. “George was a blessing to the church's recent 5 year, $5M renovation project, known as Building for the Future (BFF),” said Spud Van de Water, George’s friend and BFF Committee co-chair. “As capital campaign co-chair, he guided the fundraising strategy that doubled donations from our original estimate. He did this with good humor and consistently sound advice. He was also one of the top three donors. He will always be my role model for generosity and volunteer work.”

George also was remembered by his friend Tom Aboud as “passionate about creating good healthy economies with good healthy local food,” describing George’s support for local growers and food banks, in which his son Eric was also deeply involved. He and friends also founded a men’s book club of which he remained a dedicated member, reading each book with care and bringing thoughtful notes about his opinions to meetings.

A memorial service will be held at 3:00 pm on Saturday, April 26 at First Universalist Church, 4101 E. Hampden Ave, Denver, CO. The service will be live streamed at https://vimeo.com/event/5037599.

You may use the mortuary guestbook below to leave comments and memories for the family. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the church or to the donor’s local food bank.