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 high 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 in order to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. He received a B.S. in Agriculture in 1973, and his D.V.M. 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 in Las Vegas where he spent two years there before receiving an opportunity to return to Kansas City. He joined VCA 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 American Animal Hospital Association. He has served two terms as president of the KCVMA. In the community, Dr. Gage has been on the board of 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 35 years. They have two children, Bailey, age 30, who 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 of working side by side as associates in a practice in northern Maine, Bailey and Art recently purchased their own small animal practice in southern Maine near Portland. Logan, age 27, currently works in a local bank and lives in Brookside with three friends. Three pets grace the Gage household. They are Randall, a Tuxedo cat; Pookie, a Cockalier; and Margaret, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

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.