Dirck Bundick Wynn

A visitation for Dirck will be held Saturday, September 16, 2023 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Hawaiian Memorial Park Chapel, 45-425 Kamehameha Highway, Kaneohe, Hawaii 96744. A chapel service will occur Saturday, September 16, 2023 from 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM, 45-425 Kamehameha Highway, Kaneohe, Hawaii 96744. A burial service will occur Saturday, September 16, 2023 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Hawaiian Memorial Park Cemetery, 45-425 Kamehameha Highway, Kaneohe, Hawaii 96744.

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Good morning. I am Branden Wood, Dirck’s twin. Yes, that’s not quite obvious but we both share the same birthday, July 6. Although we are very different, we are similar in certain ways and that’s why my family calls Uncle Dirck and me the July 6 twins. I am Uncle Dirck’s first nephew.

Dirck Bundick Wynn, the first son of George Bundick and Elsie Augusta Wynn, was born on Wednesday, July 6, 1955, in St. Albans Naval Hospital in Queens, New York.

Dirck’s father served our country in the United States Navy. The family moved across the country from New York, to Massachusetts, to Texas, to Oklahoma and eventually ending up here in Hawaii. Dirck’s parents bought a home in Ewa Beach and raised their family there. Dirck was probably around ten years old when the family settled here.

Dirck graduated from James Campbell High School in 1973. After high school, he attended Leeward Community College but his focus was not on a higher education but on the high he got from surfing. Surfing was his passion. He loved the water. He loved the waves. Rocky Point was his favorite spot. Dawn patrol was a regular thing with Dirck. Early morning sessions before the sun rises and until the sun went down. That’s where you would find Dirck – in the water. That’s what he loved. He also enjoyed scuba diving and cliff diving too – and yup, that’s him in action on the picture board at one of his cliff diving adventures.

Another passion Dirck had was for cars. Dirck loved cars and working on them. His long-time friend Bill jokingly said that Dirck would help him fix his car so that Dirck would have a ride to the beach to surf. He remembers Dirck saying, we have to fix this car…..surf’s gonna be good tomorrow. Maybe so, but Dirck did enjoy working on cars. He loved cars period. And had many of them. His Ford Falcon, a BMW 325i, a BMW 740, a Dasher, a Chevy S10 truck, his Mazda truck, an Audi Quatro, a Saab, a Camaro, a Toyata Tacoma and 4Runner. But his black GTO….can’t say enough about that one.

Dirck also loved music. Good old rock and roll, funk, Motown. The Beatles, Led Zepplin, Bad Company, AC/DC, Scorpions, The Rolling Stones, just to name a few. Sly and the Family Stone. There is so much more that is too numerous to name and his cd collection would blow your mind.

Dirck worked on cars and made sure they had a good sound system to play his music on his way to the beach to surf. He had his priorities and knew what he wanted.

With these passions in life – surfing, music, cars – money was an absolute need. Dirck really didn’t have a sole career but held many jobs, doing different things. From being a newspaper boy growing up, working in the paint department at City Mill, delivering snacks for Yick Lung, hiking into the mountains to find maile leaves so the leaves could be gold-plated for jewelry, assisting with picture taking at events for Picture Man, providing temporary work for Labor Services, even working at The Gas Company for a short bit. The longest job he held was with the Carpenters’ Union as a drywall installer. Dirck knew what hard work was and he always worked hard, non-stop.

Dirck was a go-getter. A risk taker. He was adventurous and fun-loving. He had stamina. He had energy, endurance and determination. When he set his mind on something, he would pursue it with all his heart. No one could tell him it can’t be done. And if someone did, that made him even more determined.

Dirck also believed in the Almighty God. Jesus Christ was his Lord and Savior. He prayed to have someone special in his life which was an unanswered prayer for quite some time. But on Friday, January 16, 1987, his prayer was answered. Dirck met Darlene. He was doing one of his many jobs and saw her walking down the street. Cooke Street to be exact. Journey was in town for a concert and she was wearing her Journey concert t-shirt. She likes good music – that’s a plus.

They continued to see each other even after a rough start. But Dirck was determined. And six years after they met, on Saturday, July 10, 1993, Dirck married Darlene. Two months ago, Dirck and Darlene celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. From when they first met until Dirck went home to be with his Lord, it was just the two of them. In his last moments here on earth, it was just the two of them. Dirck and Darlene. They were each other’s world.

So surfing, music, cars and Darlene. That’s what Dirck loved and that’s what Dirck pursued with all his heart.

And that’s Uncle Dirck, my July 6 twin.

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Hi, I am Deanna Lum, Dirck’s sister-in-law. I am here to tell you a little story. Once upon a time…No, I kid. The story begins….Chapter 1…Cliff notes version I guess.

Dirck came into my life when I was about 15 years old. I had first heard about him from Darlene’s gushing about this guy she met on the side of the street, and I sat giggling as she just went on and on and on…but I never met him yet but heard him on the phone with his baritone voice.

Then came THAT day or I should say evening. When my sister failed to come home after her workday by 5 PM for dinner. Mama started getting slightly frantic and called her friends and asked if she had seen Darlene. Her friend had said, “I think she went to hang out with that guy.” … Mama’s face…changed. “Oh boy…” my teenage brain shifted. 5:30 came…6:00 came…Mama called an old friend, who HAPPENED to be on the police department. “RUN HIS NAME. RUN HIS PLATES. HE HAS MY DAUGHTER!” as I sat on the sofa blinking my eyes extremely fast. 6:30 came and a phone call…at last. “Mom, I’m okay. I’m coming home.”

As I sat on the sofa looking out the picture window, in came a car – green and white and it pulled up to our driveway. Out came Darlene and this guy who comes up to where Mama had run out to hug my sister. He stood there near them, and I sat there staring with my chin on my hands. As I watched, I was thinking, “this guy is either really brave or really dumb” as I saw him come up to give Darlene and Mama a hug.

Talk about an Intro to a really good story…

Over the next few YEARS, Mama was not pleased with Darlene seeing Dirck, but lucky for Darlene and Dirck, they had an ally in the form of a little sister, ME, who love romance stories. When the time was for phone calls, I would pick up the phone and talk like it was one of my friends then get Darlene on the phone. When the time was to go out, especially during the day, Darlene and I would head out and I became a confused chaperone as I walked ahead of them when we went to movies or other locales where I’d meet up with some of my friends. Now, who was chaperoning who but all I know is I went to a LOT of movies and outings those few years.

As time went on, Mama finally forgave Dirck for “keeping her daughter out late” as we know it wasn’t his idea not to get her home on time – Darlene was the mastermind behind that and continued to see him throughout the years. Mama, then became an ally against our Daddy since he was still peeved someone had the audacity to keep one of his girls out later than needed. So, on Fridays, Darlene would go out with “friends” and get dropped off at Popo’s house where we had dinner every week.

One night after she arrived, we all jumped into the car on our way home and went on the freeway. On the side of the road, I saw THAT car which sat under one of the lights shining directly on it and went “Oh, Uhm, we should…” Mama looked at me and gave me that look and I shushed immediately and immediately “Pua Ting” came out as we drove by as Darlene craned her neck in the back seat to look at THAT car and THAT guy.

Finally, the time came for that guy to be accepted and invited to our family parties and dinners (which we had a lot of). For some reason, I almost always had the “honor” of sitting next to him often. Me, the lover of a rare steak, and the guy who loved fish, chicken and SALAD. Ugh. And of course, speaking of eating, how long does it take a person to eat? I mean I’ve eaten, gone for seconds, sat and talked, and then gotten dessert and where is he? Still eating his salad…as I am moving around the party or dinner talking to people, he is sitting there, looking around chewing. Of course, stopping to talk to people as they came by. Smiling and eating…

The next biggest event was when I was in the hospital, and everyone was excited as I was to give birth to my child. As he walks in, he asked me “How are you doing?” …and I say “Uhm, okay. I’m about to give birth.” And he dead seriously asked me, “Could you hold off for another day?” I went, “well it doesn’t really work that way.” And soon he became a birthday twin to my child. He took it in stride for the rest of the years as Branden became center of the birthdays. All the parties at Treetops at Paradise Park, Spaghetti Factory, Chuck E. Cheese and Dave & Busters for Branden and he was just there enjoying – eating and smiling. Not until Branden got older and we moved on to other restaurants did he feel like the Birthday Dude.

I also worried about him one day when he was supposed to bring something for our Popo’s birthday party that Darlene made the night before as she would be heading straight from work. He had forgotten the avocado pie (which if you have ever tasted it, you’d understand the pain of missing it). Darlene was so mad…and how did I know that? Because she said, “I’m so mad….I’m so mad!!!” in between the tears. She actually faced away from him and looked at me and my date and then got up to go to the restroom to wash her face and calm down. My Mama had told me after a while “Go check on your sister..” and I had the most “Aw man, why me” face. She was still saying “I’m so mad” and I was very worried about Dirck and was very happy that they came in separate cars.

Now, as I said, we were quite opposite, and you know sometimes when opposites get together things get tricky. We got into a fight, a verbal one, mind you, but we pretty much stopped talking for a few years much to Darlene’s displeasure. The family made sure we sat on opposite sides of the rooms, chairs and nowhere near each other. Until family pulled us back when Daddy got ill. He would stop by to see Daddy in the hospital, and I would say “Thank you”. For he respected my Daddy that much, he would put aside his intense dislike for doctors and hospitals and visit. By this time, he and Darlene were already living at our family property, taking care of business, and doing who knows what there but I still said those two words “Thank you.” As you know me, two words is a way too little for how much I normally talk but it was enough.

It wasn’t until another few years when the plan was for me, my son and eldest sister to move on to the same property that shifted us again. He quietly did what he needed to do – for Darlene’s sake. He, along with Sistah Nalani and Jacob, helped pack, move, stack, and shift 12 years of stuff from my condo one windy, rainy, and icky New Year’s Eve day and evening into our new place. That is also, after he assisted in checking the house, figuring out what we needed to do, assisted in teaching us newbies how to do a few things around the house – laying floor, painting walls, teaching us basic plumbing, and how to rescreen BB gun holes in our window screens.

After that, a whole new chapter started in the story.

Dirck and I had started talking more – mostly about yardwork and gadgets to do yardwork and what the future held. We finally found the most common grounds – my sister and his wife, Darlene, and the Kahalu’u property. We would work together to do what needed to be done. For my first birthday there, Dirck and Darlene got me my first yard gadget – my leaf blower! I could not stop smiling and grinning and they kept laughing at how much I liked it.

Amazon was my favorite store to shop for gadgets for the yard. Every time I got a box, Dirck would say “What kind of toy did she get now?”. I’d walk over like a proud new owner and showed them what it does and how I could use it. He would sit there smiling and chuckling with a shake of his head at how funny it would seem.

By this time, he was starting to have a bit trouble walking and I figured he just overworked or tweaked his back so I would go out to near where he was and just watched and moved the pieces that fell off it after he attacked it with a chainsaw. He turned and looked at me one day and asked, “Do you want to try?” Me, stood there, trying to gulp quietly with my eyes big as saucers…Dirck…. was…. trusting me with his toys! He did get me started using the electric chainsaw as the gas ones do have a bigger umph. He also told me I should try to use the stand-up mower!!! Again, flabbergasted! That is his baby (other than Darlene and the 4-runner) and he was telling me to go mow using this amazing toy? I was humbled and felt so very appreciative that he would let me go on that apparatus. He taught me more in the last year on outdoor work than I have in my whole life and for that I am grateful.

I suppose there were more things that he taught me. Things like persistence (or some would call it stubbornness) or he wouldn’t have continued to pursue the relationship with Darlene; respect or he wouldn’t have come see my Daddy and Mama at the hospital; work ethic or he wouldn’t have done so much on the property to make the place a home.

I do know one other thing he taught me and that was to love. How did I know he loved? He showed a side of himself when we moved there. One day as Darlene and I would be finishing working around the yard near dusk, he’d come by and talk to us and walk back to his house. Darlene would light the way with her flashlight to make sure he saw the roots of the trees – and the next thing I see is something I never would imagine…. Dirck…shaking his butt in circles…putting on a show for his wife. Since he was facing away, he didn’t realize he put on a show for his sister-in-law as well. And “EW”! As much as I love romantic stories, I don’t need to know THAT part of my sister and brother-in-law. All I would hear afterwards is laughter from both as he continued walking home. It was this silly side that he rarely showed except to “his Darlene”.

What he taught me was THAT is what I want. A person loyal, protective, persistent (or stubborn) who would always try to make me laugh. He provided that and more to my sister and I am forever grateful that I was a part of this fairy tale love story. This love story showed me that true love and soul mates come walking down the street in a very unplanned way. They shared 30 years of ups and downs and was still very much in love with each other – they both gave and received that love with grace, humility, honor, and respect. I hope to have that one day in this physical world, but I know that when the time comes, they will find each other again in the spiritual world.

Thank you Dirck for being persistent, loyal, respectful, and putting up with our antics. Thank you for being in my family and thank you for not just being my brother-in-law but becoming my brother.

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Hi, everyone. I’m Darlene Wynn, Dirck’s wife. Just as God answered Dirck’s prayer for someone special in his life, God answered my prayer too. God knew the dating scene was not for me, for I met Dirck when I was 18. God had His plan to bring Dirck and I together when He did, in His perfect timing.

I am very blessed to have had Dirck as my husband for 30 years and to have known him for 36 years, for more than half my life. He has been such a huge part of my life and forever will be. We have been through so many things together – the good and the not so good – but through every good thing and every not so good thing, we have always come out stronger and closer to each other than before.

Branden earlier shared of when Dirck and I first met. I will never forget that day on Cooke Street. I had noticed one of those cool-looking, classic cars coming down the road. I know now that it was a Ford Falcon. And I know the year of a car is an important detail, but I do not remember the year of the Falcon. 1967? 68? I don’t know but I do know that it was a cool-looking car, and I then noticed the driver of the car. I told myself, Darlene, look away because this good-looking guy driving the car mustn’t see you looking at him. Too late! He caught me looking and then I looked away.

So, as I went about my business and waited for a friend for lunch, the good-looking guy came walking by and approached me. My heart was a-beating. That good-looking guy was Dirck. He asked for directions to a place he was looking for. Ok, when does a guy ever ask for directions? Anyway….

I told him it’s probably over there. So, he left and I went upstairs to tell my friend to hurry up because there is this guy downstairs. She says ok. I go back downstairs to wait and Dirck comes back. He asked if I saw the other guy he was with. I said no and at that moment, his co-worker comes out from where they were. Hmm…..anyway.

Dirck asked about the Journey t-shirt I was wearing and we talked about the concert. I was carrying books from the classes I was taking at Kapiolani Community College and he asked about that. And all the while we are talking, I am lost in his beautiful eyelashes. He has the most beautiful lashes….ever. We continue to talk and then he pops the question – can I get your number? I then come out of “eyelash heaven” and begin to hesitate. Then before I even say a thing, Dirck says, no I’ll give you my number and you call me because I think we could have something very good together. I thought to myself – what a nice guy by doing that and saying that and then I give him my number. I got scoldings from my friend for doing that. But Dirck was really nice.

Dirck didn’t call me but after three days, I called him. I had to leave a message and wait for him to return my call. I thought, he’s not going to remember me, what was I thinking. Then he called. We talked that evening until the next morning. I don’t remember what we talked about for all those hours, but that was the start of our relationship.

We decided to get together and go out. And Deanna shared the family’s point of view or should I say her point of view of that date. My view – very different. I told Dad that this guy is going to pick me up from class and I’ll be home for dinner. Dad didn’t say anything really. Maybe I told him at a bad time. I don’t know. But I didn’t quite make it home for dinner. 7:00 dinner, yes; but not our regular 5:00 dinner. And it wasn’t Dirck’s fault. I called home around 6:30. Mom was frantic. She asked me where are you, stay right there and we’ll pick you up. I said, no, Dirck is bringing me home. When I got home, Mom came running down the stairs and hugged me. Dirck stood there and eventually left without really meeting the family.

That was crazy. But I felt safe with him. He was a total gentleman then and always has been with me. He could have said forget this, but he didn’t. And I am very grateful he didn’t. Throughout our life together, I would still get lost in “eyelash heaven”. I would tell him that he has such beautiful lashes. He would bat his eyelashes at me and tell me that I was crazy. And I would tell him, yeah, crazy about you!

With Dirck I always felt safe and was safe. I remember we were in Portland, Oregon, for a conference. Our hotel was a small one and at night it seemed to be in the wrong part of town. We didn’t rent a car since the hotel was within walking distance from the conference venue. So one night after the conference was over, we walked back to the hotel. Dirck really didn’t like the area so he picked up a stick and found a garbage can lid to protect us if anything were to happen. Nothing happened but I had my knight in shining armor that night. I was safe with him. When we would go to bed at night, he would tell me, you’re safe and sound…..peaceful sleep. He always did that. I was safe with him.

I remember another night soon after we moved from our Ewa Beach home to the family property in Kahaluu. It was storming. Heavy rain, thunder, lightning – the works. And our roof leaked. Dirck got out of bed and went outside to tarp the roof. He got a metal ladder, leaned it on the metal roof, went up the ladder with the tarp and laid metal pipes down to secure the tarp. If you haven’t thought about it yet, that is a little too much metal to be working with when lightning is going off. But Dirck did it. The adventurous one. The risk taker. That night, Dirck was my Iron Man. We thought about it after and thought that was crazy.

Dirck was my life saver. If we never met, I don’t know who I would be. He saved me from possibly a life of drinking. My family are not heavy drinkers but they enjoyed a drink or two at parties. He saved me from possibly a life of bad relationships. Dirck was devoted and faithful and cared for me like I was a precious gem. He made me feel so special and when he would talk with others he referred to me as “my Darlene”. I treasured that. I was his.

And he literally saved my life one day at Bellows. It was actually after a company picnic. We went for a swim. We were in the water and I felt like I was getting too far from the shore and in too deep. Dirck was about 10 feet away and I called out to him. He must have heard it in my voice and saw it in my face – like a little panicking. He then told me, Darlene, stand up. I did. The water was just above my knees. That was it for me. Time to go home.

Dirck and I connected with music and cars and many likes and dislikes, but the ocean – not too much. I prefer solid ground under my feet. But Dirck was a “water man”. In my eyes, Dirck was “what a man”. And in a cousin’s son’s eyes, Dirck was “the man”. That was a funny story. Dirck had come to a family party and was at the door. Our cousin’s son went to his mom and the mom asked him what’s up. He points to the door and says “the man is here”. That man was Dirck.

Dirck Wynn. My man. My husband. My friend. My love. My knight in shining armor. My Iron Man. My life saver. My everything. My world. Thank you for all that you are to me. Thank you for loving me the way you do. Thank you for making me who I am today. Thank you for the wonderful, beautiful memories. I miss you so much. I love you so much. I thank God for you. You’re always in my heart.

("Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion)

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Hi! My name is Donna Lum and I am Dirck’s sister-in-law, Darlene’s older sister.

We would like to say thank you to each of you for making the time to be here with us to celebrate Dirck’s life. Thank you for all your prayers and for all your love, support and care that you give to us and continue to bless us with.

We would like to say a special thank you to Pastor Dario Lariosa for helping with the service, for sharing the message and for flying in from New York to be here for Dirck’s service. We know that Dirck is overjoyed and is smiling down from heaven.

We would also like to thank Elise Cameron, Dirck’s sister, and Ululani and Miricle Akana, Dirck's niece and grandniece, for flying in from Colorado and Kansas to be here. We are so happy that you are here with us to celebrate Dirck’s life.

Thank you also to Branden Wood, Dirck’s nephew, for giving the eulogy and to Deanna Lum, Dirck’s sister-in-law, and Darlene Wynn, Dirck’s wife, for sharing some of their special memories of Dirck. It was nice to know more about Dirck and his life.

Many, many thanks to Ruth Chu, Dorna Kubota and Ruby Tatsuno for being at the reception table to greet everyone and have them sign the guest book. We are so grateful that you could be here to help us with that.

A huge thank you to Nalani and Jacob Torquato for picking up dessert to go with our lunch and providing the special storage it needed. It’s Dirck’s favorite - Haagen Dazs ice cream. Your help has been a blessing to us.

A warm thank you to Nalani’s mom for baking goodies for us to eat during the visitation time. It was sweet of her to bless us with some ono and delicious treats.

A great big thank you to Lance Lam, Derick Kekona, Jacob Torquato, Randall Lee, Ryan Yoshida and Ricardo Paracuelles, Darlene’s co-workers and friends, for serving as Dirck’s pallbearers. We are honored that you are able to do this for us.

We have been blessed by the presence of each of you here today, so richly blessed by God and so abundantly. We thank God for each and every one of you. Words cannot express how grateful and overwhelmed we are by your love, support and care. God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is so very good.

Thank you.

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Dirck became a huge part of the Lum family when he married Darlene. When they bought their Maipuhi Street home in Ewa Beach, Dirck and Darlene hosted Thanksgiving dinners and New Year’s Eve sleepovers every year at their home. In 2010, they moved out of Ewa Beach to the Lum family property in Kahaluu. Dirck planned to build a house so that the entire family could enjoy it. Dirck cared for the property as if it was his own. He always remembered what Dad said – just make it nice. And Dirck did.

Dirck truly respected our parents. He still called them Mr. & Mrs. Lum. When Dad was in Kuakini for the two months before he passed, Dirck wanted and allowed Darlene to stay overnight with her dad. She stayed there for the majority of the nights with Dad while Dirck was at home.

When Dad passed, Dirck was deeply impacted. He would always say that Mr. Lum was a good man, a nice man. Dirck also saw how much Dad’s passing affected Darlene. And he pulled up this song and wanted to play it at Dad’s service because he didn’t like seeing sadness or worrying.

However, it wasn’t quite fitting for Dad. But this song is quite fitting for Dirck. Let’s all stand for Dirck’s pick, I’ll Take You There. Dirck, this one’s for you!

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