Arthur Lee Dirks, age 76, of Taunton, Massachusetts, passed away
peacefully on August 10, 2020. He was the beloved husband of 52 years to
Diane (Keegan) Dirks, father to daughter, Kristin Dirks of Monroe, OR.,
beloved older brother to Dana (Dirks) Metcalfe of Tallahassee FL, and
Renee (Dirks) Rowcliffe of Colorado Springs CO; and uncle to Mathew
Metcalf, Manda (Metcalfe) Payne, and Heather (Rowcliffe) Wagner.
Arthur was born in Newton, Kansas, to Arthur Wilbur Dirks and Martha
Adeline (Woods) Dirks. He served in the army from 1962 to 1965, as a
Polish interpreter in Germany during the cold war. From 1966-1973, he was
a TV weather man at KAYS, a news director at KLWN and a newsman at KWBB
where he won the Kansas Bar Association Award for his editorials.
Arthur earned a BA from Fort Hays State in Speech / Communications
(1971), a MA in Theatre at University of Kansas (1974), a MFA in Theatre
at Illinois State University (1980), an EdD Higher Education Admin. at
University of Massachusetts Boston (2001).
A placard above
Arthur's desk at work read: "Even Babe Ruth struck out 1300 times" — a
reminder to keep trying, to not fear failure and to not be
overconfident when success arrives. Starting in 1973, Arthur taught for
41 years in Theatre, Dance, and Speech Communications, and designed
sets for over 135 theatrical productions. He served 2 years as acting
Dean of School of Arts & Sciences and about 10 years as department
chairperson at Bridgewater State University. Arthur was active with
professional organizations: New England Theatre Conference (NETC), US
Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT), and American College of
Theatre Festival (ACTF). He also was active in community theatre, West
Hartford Summer Arts Festival, Mac-Haydn Theatre in Chatham NY, and the
Illinois Shakespeare Festival.
Arthur loved music from many
genres. He and his wife Diane maintained a large music library, creating
eclectic collections. After retiring in 2014, Arthur focused on
genealogical research and published books about the Dirks-Woods and the
Keegan-Morford sides of the family.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, a private celebration of life will be held later in the year.