Dr. Dirk Appel, age 64, husband of Sheila Collins of Salem died at home early Thursday morning February 12.

Born in Amsterdam, he was the son of Dirk and Janet (Weeder) Appel. He received his Bachelors Degree in Engineering from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand with First Class Honors in 1967.He was then awarded a scholarship to the University of Toronto where he received his Master of Applied Science in Aerospace Engineering in 1970.He was again awarded a scholarship to Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he received his Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering. His dissertation was Shock Tube Studies of Deuterium Dissociation and Oxidation by Atomic Resonance Absorption Spectrophotometry.

While living in Canada, Dr. Appel enjoyed canoe trips and portaging with his friends. He developed a passion for sailing after he moved to Cambridge. He was the proud owner of a Hinckley 41 Owens Cutter and enjoyed racing in the wooden boat regattas in Nantucket, Vinyard Haven, Essex, CT, and Newport. He loved to sail in the St. Vincent Windward Islands with friends. He was a member of the Boston Yacht Club in Marblehead where he enjoyed his newest sailboat, the Sheila C. His other passions were the stock market and wines, both of which required a great deal of study, and in the latter case, tasting. He was never separated from his vintage chart.

Dr. Appel's proudest accomplishment was becoming an American Citizen on August 8, 1996 on the steps of Faneuil Hall in Boston with his wife and sister in law at his side. Since that time he had always made it a point to teach each child in the family how to display the flag at home and on the boat. Having lived all over the world, he would always say that Americans were the most generous people he had ever seen.

Following his graduation from M.I.T. in 1975, Dr. Appel began his lifelong career of more than 30 years with Thermo Environment Instruments, a Franklin, MA based analytical instrument manufacturer. Now known as ThermoFisher Scientific, Dr. Appel was the Vice President of Research and Development. He was instrumental in contributing to numerous innovative instrument and systems related patents. By far, his involvement with the first pulsed fluorescent technique for measuring sulfur dioxide, a major air pollutant would be the most important. The instrument is used for analyzing and monitoring the pollutant sulfur dioxide which causes air pollution from stack emissions. This technique is widely used to meet those regulations set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S. and in more than eighty countries worldwide. Dr .Appel most recently was granted a patent from the U.S. Patent Office on November 25, 2008 for the method and apparatus for monitoring Mercury in a gas sample. He has several other patents pending.

In addition to his wife Sheila, Dr. Appel is survived by two brothers, Gerry Appel and John Appel of Upper Hutt, New Zealand and two sisters Tina and her husband Lou Van der burg and Margaret and her husband Peter Jemmett all of Auckland, NZ. He is survived by his nieces Lindy and Richard Gagne, Susan and Britt Subitzky, Karen and Bob Harris, and Cindy Jammett. He is also survived by his brothers and sisters in law, Maureen and Bob Fritz, John and Carol Collins, Ronald and Klari Collins, Leo and Kathy Collins and 14 nieces and nephews, John Fritz MD and his wife Jennifer, Keelin and George Reekie, Catherine and Jim Englehardt, Keavy and Michael Gaines, Jeanne Marie and Rollie Mungar, Catherine and Terry Cook, Maureen and George Chastka, Nancy Collins, Susan and Rick Field, Maura and Jay Gaffney, Christopher Collins,Tahra Collins, Ian Collins, and Caitlyn Collins, and a cousin Mary Ellen and Leo Murphy.

His funeral mass will be held on Saturday, February 21,2009 at 12 o'clock in the afternoon in the Immaculate Conception Church, 15 Hawthorne Blvd, Salem. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Visiting hours will be Friday, February 20th , at the Dodge Shreve House, 29 Chestnut St. Salem, MA from 4 o'clock in the afternoon until 8 o'clock in the evening .Those who wish may make memorial donations to the cancer research program of Dr. Andrew Zhu at the Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St., Boston, MA 02114.Dirk was especially grateful for the wonderful care he received from Dr. Zhu and everyone at the MGH, allowing him to live almost ten happy and productive years with advanced stage cancer. For online guest book or additional information please call 978 744 0497 or visit www.MurphyFuneralHome.com