Dr. Gilbert Maestas, one of the first Latino doctors in general practice in Denver, died Jan. 21. He was 83.
A memorial Mass is planned at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Vincent de Paul Church, East Arizona Avenue and South University Boulevard.
Maestas was practicing medicine until September, when he suffered a heart attack and a stroke.
“He was one of the most outstanding and beloved doctors I knew,” said Dr. Michael Muftic of Winter Park, an obstetrician-gynecologist who knew Maestas for years while they both practiced in Denver.
“He was a compassionate, deeply caring person, giving his best without considering whether there was financial benefit,” Muftic said.
“Five minutes after you met him you became part of his family,” said Esther Luben of Lakewood, a patient for 50 years.
Maestas kept up a tradition of making house calls, she said, “just to make sure you were OK.”
Maestas treated many patients for free and would be given gifts of venison or fish by the patients, said his wife, Pat Maestas.
He also gave free medical care to Mother Teresa’s order of nuns, the Missionaries of Charity, which has a branch here, and did medical missionary work in Baja California.
In his 55-year medical practice, Maestas delivered 5,000 babies, his family said.
“He delivered babies for three and four generations of families,” said his son, Gilbert Maestas II of Centennial.
Gilbert Boniface Maestas was born May 25, 1925, on a ranch near Walsenburg. He graduated from St. Mary’s High School there and then was drafted. He received his draft notice the day his family was notified that his brother, Pete Maestas, had been killed while serving with the Army in North Africa during World War II.
Gilbert Maestas flew 28 combat missions over Germany and Italy in World War II and later served in the Korean War.
He married Stella Muniz, and they had three daughters. She died six years later of a blood disorder, leaving him with three daughters, all younger than the age of 6.
He married Pat Esquivel on June 3, 1961. They had two sons.
Maestas graduated from Regis University and St. Louis University Medical School in St. Louis.
Married and with a family, he put himself through medical school by painting houses and working in gas stations. He converted a chicken coop into a house for his family, his son said.
He served on the Colorado Supreme Court Nominating Commission for 10 years and on the Denver District Attorney’s Crime Advisory Commission. He taught at the University of Colorado Medical School and the School of Pharmacy.
He was one of the founders both of Escuela de Guadalupe, a Catholic dual-language school, and Clinica Tepeyac, which serves uninsured Latinos. He was an original member of the Latin American Educational Foundation.
In addition to his wife and son, he is survived by another son, Stephen Maestas of Denver and three daughters: Kathleen Welling and Veronica Garcia, both of Denver, and Teri Davis of Highlands Ranch; nine grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. He was preceded in death by his infant daughter, Angelita Maestas.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
