Wolfgang Gerhard Dirks

Colorado, on February 19, 2025. Wolfgang was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to Dr. Gerhard Dirks and Gertrud Dirks.

Wolfgang was married to Carolyn Dirks from 1964 until her passing in 2011. He is survived by his siblings, Ingrid Sevin and Rainer Dirks. He is also survived by his son and daughter-in-law, David and Michelle Dirks, and his daughter and son-in-law, Kristen and Jason Finley. There are four grandchildren: Hannah Dirks, Matthew Dirks, Kaylee Finley and Justin Finley.

Wolfgang’s family was from Berlin/Germany, where his father worked as an engineer for the Reichwerke. The start of World War II in 1939 was the beginning of a very tumultuous time for the family and for their country. In 1942, in order to escape the bombings, they first moved to Prague. Then, in 1945, they made a daring escape to eastern Germany, as documented in the book The Dirks Escape. Finally, in 1947, they made it to West Germany.

Wolfgang and his family resided in Frankfurt until Gerhard was offered a position at IBM in Northern California. They immigrated in 1960 and started a new life in the hills of Los Altos.

Wolfgang was an innovative, highly accomplished electrical engineer with a legacy of developing technology for personal computers in the early days of Silicon Valley, beginning with IBM after college in the mid 1960’s. He and his father even started their own computer data storage company, Dirks Electronics (1968.) During his career at Apple Computer (1980 – 1999), Wolfgang led engineering teams in magnetic storage, semiconductors, and computer architecture for Macintosh desktop and portable machines. He went on to hold a Vice President of Engineering position at Western Digital Corporation and finally retired as Chief Technology Officer of a consumer electronics start-up. He holds six patents, many of which are still used in computers today.

In his teens, Wolfgang was a good student and athlete. He was a track star, a competitive ballroom dancer and apparently could “shred” on the accordion. In the late 1960’s through the 1970’s, he could be found water skiing on one of several California lakes in the summer, then snow skiing in the Sierra Nevada mountains above Lake Tahoe in winter. He became a skilled pilot, and loved the technical challenges of upgrading and maintaining his beloved Trinidad single-engine aircraft. He, his wife Carolyn, and their dogs eventually moved to Truckee, California, where he designed and helped construct their dream home. Upon Carolyn’s passing, Wolfgang moved to Colorado to be closer to his son and his family.

Those who knew Wolfgang will miss his smile, his intellect, and his kind-heartedness.

A Celebration of Wolfgang’s life will be announced soon.