Dr. Hires Gage grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, graduating from Southwest High School in 1969. His interest in veterinary medicine originated from working summers on his grandfather's dairy farm near Lawrence, Kansas, during junior and high school. Hires began college at the University of Kansas but transferred to the University of Missouri-Columbia after two and a half years to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. He received a B.S. in Agriculture in 1973, and his DVM in 1977. Late in vet school, his interest shifted from large animals to companion animals. After graduation, Hires accepted an associate position in a small animal hospital n Las Vegas where he spent two years there before receiving an opportunity to return to Kansas City. He joined Fairway Animal Hospital in 1979 and purchased the practice in 1981. 

Dr. Gage is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), KVMA, KCVMA, and the American Animal Hospital Association. He has served two terms as the president of the KCVMA. In the community, Dr. Gage has been on the board of the Children's Center for the Visually Impaired and is presently on the Board of Pets for Life. 

Hires and his wife, Gail, have been married for many years and have two adult children, Bailey and Logan. Bailey graduated from veterinary school at Kansas State University in May 2014. In June 2017, Bailey married Dr. Art Charles, a classmate in vet school. After two years working side by side as associates in practice in northern Maine, Bailey and Art purchased their own small animal practice in mid-coast Maine. Logan works at a local bank and lives in Merriam with his young lab, Nora. Two pets grace the Gage household. They are Randall, a Tuxedo cat, and Finnegan, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy. 

When away from VCA Fairway Animal Hospital, Dr. Gage enjoys playing golf, watching sports, fishing, hunting upland game and waterfowl, and vacationing with his family.