Although Mark and Mill Gelsigner were both born and raised in Kansas, their childhoods were a world apart. Mark was a city kid from Overland Park, a suburb of Kansas City, where he graduated in a class of 603. Mill was a farm girl from rural Kansas who raised cattle, drove a ‘69 Plymouth muscle car, and graduated in a class of just 16. Despite their obvious differences, sparks flew when they met in 1978 in Manhattan, Kansas (the little apple :^) on the campus of Kansas State University. It was a dormitory romance for the ages.

For Mark and Mill, young love had found a way, but it wasn’t without its complications. In the days before cell phones, Mill’s family farm didn’t have a phone at all. That posed a problem during college breaks when the two were apart. Their solution was truly old school. In order to talk, Mark would call Mill’s closest neighbor (two miles away), who would send one of their children on a bike to get Mill. Mill would then drive to her neighbor’s (bringing child and bike with her) and call Mark back. Those neighbors facilitated countless calls and paid for the long-distance charges that accompanied them to boot. Mark and Mill never forgot it, and are still good friends with them today.

After college, Mark parlayed his architecture degree into a career designing Men’s Wearhouse stores. Eventually his firm, located in Tulsa, OK, was awarded a Southern CA school design project and appointed Mark as the project lead. For 36 years, Mark has traveled to California from Oklahoma (now Denver) every other week to oversee the enormous project.

Mill spent her career as a middle school teacher. She’s retired now, after working at Target in recent years, and looks forward to Mark’s retirement later this year when they can explore their mutual passions of travel, gardening, and outdoor activities full-time.

As empty-nesters, the Gelsingers ended up in Denver to follow their two daughters and grandson. They both love the diversity of homes, parks, open space, and residents at Painted Prairie. Situated 25 minutes from each daughter, they’re in the perfect spot for frequent visits. Plus being DEN-adjacent has been a vast time-saver during Mark’s biweekly business travels to California (and will continue to be for their future retirement travels). Life is good and phones are no longer an issue for the Gelsingers. After 44 years of marriage, they’ve figured out how to reach each other without going through the neighbors.