When Maitland Stanley Dirks was born on August 11, 1909, in Kankakee, Illinois, his father, physician Charles B. Dirks, was 31 and his mother, Alice Thompson Dirks, was 26. His brother Dempster was born three years later in Elgin, Illinois.
Dr. Charles Dirks accepted positions at Occidental College, Los Angeles County General Hospital and Glendale Hospital, and moved the family from Illinois to Los Angeles. In 1913 the Dirks family was residing at 118 Ellenwood Drive in Eagle Rock.
Maitland was 14 in 1924 when his father died. His mother had gone by train from Eagle Rock to Baraboo, Wisconsin, for the burial of her own mother. It was while she was in Wisconsin for her mother's funeral that her husband died, apparently of strep throat, in Glendale Hospital. Maitland and his younger brother Dempster accompanied their father's body to Chicago where they were met by their mother. Dr. Charles Dirks was buried in LaGrange, Illinois.
To help with the family's finances, Maitland spent the summer following his father's death working on a fishing boat harbored in San Pedro. He was out at sea for six weeks. Maitland later kept in touch with the fisherman's family and would visit San Pedro with his own children.
When Maitland was courting his future wife, Annie Irene Ward, he befriended her younger brother, Edward Ward. Edward's father had died when he was 12, and the two bonded over losing fathers while they were still young boys. Maitland and his brother Dempster offered to take Edward on a road trip across the United States. So in 1933, the three young men—Maitland 23, Dempster 21 and Edward 16–motored 10,000 miles in nine weeks. They visited many points of interest including the Chicago World's Fair, Washington, D.C., and Plymouth, Massachusetts. They also stopped at every automobile factory, every steel mill and rubber manufacturing plant on their entire route.
Maitland graduated from Glendale High School in 1927 and then from Occidental College. Maitland's father, a physician himself, had cautioned Maitland against becoming a doctor. He said it would not be fair to his future family because so much of his time would be taken from them. However, once in college, Maitland felt called to become a doctor even as he felt torn by the memory of his father's admonition. He finished his medical studies at Stanford University in 1936 and then went to Iowa City for training in radiology—a speciality that he felt was a compromise and would honor his father's advice about having time for his family.
After Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, Maitland was given a physical examination for military service. A cancerous tumor was discovered on his pelvis which could develop very quickly in a young person. His doctors, who had also been his professors, decided to operate and remove a good part of his pelvis, reconstructing it with bone taken from his legs. He was in a body cast for many months and later his left hip remained paralyzed. In spite of his physical woes, Maitland did serve his country. He and his family moved from Iowa City to Phoenix where he was still hospitalized in a body cast. Since he could see clearly, the military medical unit set up equipment in his hospital room so he could read the x-rays of drafted soldiers. Maitland eventually was able to walk again, but always with pain.
He moved to Long Beach, California, in 1946 and to North Hollywood in 1947, where he practiced radiology in Van Nuys for many years.
As he approached retirement age, Maitland relocated to Bakersfield, California, where he could more easily reach the rural hospitals and prisons that he served as radiologist. Just as he had been willing to drive long distances to share the world with his children, he was undaunted by the miles he drove to read the waiting x-rays. Maitland finally retired when he was 80.
Dr. Maitland Stanley Dirks passed away on February 12, 1992, at 82. He and Annie Irene had been married for 56 years. His life had benefited from the wonders of medical science, and Maitland chose to will his body to Loma Linda University School of Medicine.
—Shirley Dirks Thiéry
Dr. Charles Dirks accepted positions at Occidental College, Los Angeles County General Hospital and Glendale Hospital, and moved the family from Illinois to Los Angeles. In 1913 the Dirks family was residing at 118 Ellenwood Drive in Eagle Rock.
Maitland was 14 in 1924 when his father died. His mother had gone by train from Eagle Rock to Baraboo, Wisconsin, for the burial of her own mother. It was while she was in Wisconsin for her mother's funeral that her husband died, apparently of strep throat, in Glendale Hospital. Maitland and his younger brother Dempster accompanied their father's body to Chicago where they were met by their mother. Dr. Charles Dirks was buried in LaGrange, Illinois.
To help with the family's finances, Maitland spent the summer following his father's death working on a fishing boat harbored in San Pedro. He was out at sea for six weeks. Maitland later kept in touch with the fisherman's family and would visit San Pedro with his own children.
When Maitland was courting his future wife, Annie Irene Ward, he befriended her younger brother, Edward Ward. Edward's father had died when he was 12, and the two bonded over losing fathers while they were still young boys. Maitland and his brother Dempster offered to take Edward on a road trip across the United States. So in 1933, the three young men—Maitland 23, Dempster 21 and Edward 16–motored 10,000 miles in nine weeks. They visited many points of interest including the Chicago World's Fair, Washington, D.C., and Plymouth, Massachusetts. They also stopped at every automobile factory, every steel mill and rubber manufacturing plant on their entire route.
Maitland graduated from Glendale High School in 1927 and then from Occidental College. Maitland's father, a physician himself, had cautioned Maitland against becoming a doctor. He said it would not be fair to his future family because so much of his time would be taken from them. However, once in college, Maitland felt called to become a doctor even as he felt torn by the memory of his father's admonition. He finished his medical studies at Stanford University in 1936 and then went to Iowa City for training in radiology—a speciality that he felt was a compromise and would honor his father's advice about having time for his family.
After Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, Maitland was given a physical examination for military service. A cancerous tumor was discovered on his pelvis which could develop very quickly in a young person. His doctors, who had also been his professors, decided to operate and remove a good part of his pelvis, reconstructing it with bone taken from his legs. He was in a body cast for many months and later his left hip remained paralyzed. In spite of his physical woes, Maitland did serve his country. He and his family moved from Iowa City to Phoenix where he was still hospitalized in a body cast. Since he could see clearly, the military medical unit set up equipment in his hospital room so he could read the x-rays of drafted soldiers. Maitland eventually was able to walk again, but always with pain.
He moved to Long Beach, California, in 1946 and to North Hollywood in 1947, where he practiced radiology in Van Nuys for many years.
As he approached retirement age, Maitland relocated to Bakersfield, California, where he could more easily reach the rural hospitals and prisons that he served as radiologist. Just as he had been willing to drive long distances to share the world with his children, he was undaunted by the miles he drove to read the waiting x-rays. Maitland finally retired when he was 80.
Dr. Maitland Stanley Dirks passed away on February 12, 1992, at 82. He and Annie Irene had been married for 56 years. His life had benefited from the wonders of medical science, and Maitland chose to will his body to Loma Linda University School of Medicine.
—Shirley Dirks Thiéry
When Maitland Stanley Dirks was born on August 11, 1909, in Kankakee, Illinois, his father, physician Charles B. Dirks, was 31 and his mother, Alice Thompson Dirks, was 26. His brother Dempster was born three years later in Elgin, Illinois.
Dr. Charles Dirks accepted positions at Occidental College, Los Angeles County General Hospital and Glendale Hospital, and moved the family from Illinois to Los Angeles. In 1913 the Dirks family was residing at 118 Ellenwood Drive in Eagle Rock.
Maitland was 14 in 1924 when his father died. His mother had gone by train from Eagle Rock to Baraboo, Wisconsin, for the burial of her own mother. It was while she was in Wisconsin for her mother's funeral that her husband died, apparently of strep throat, in Glendale Hospital. Maitland and his younger brother Dempster accompanied their father's body to Chicago where they were met by their mother. Dr. Charles Dirks was buried in LaGrange, Illinois.
To help with the family's finances, Maitland spent the summer following his father's death working on a fishing boat harbored in San Pedro. He was out at sea for six weeks. Maitland later kept in touch with the fisherman's family and would visit San Pedro with his own children.
When Maitland was courting his future wife, Annie Irene Ward, he befriended her younger brother, Edward Ward. Edward's father had died when he was 12, and the two bonded over losing fathers while they were still young boys. Maitland and his brother Dempster offered to take Edward on a road trip across the United States. So in 1933, the three young men—Maitland 23, Dempster 21 and Edward 16–motored 10,000 miles in nine weeks. They visited many points of interest including the Chicago World's Fair, Washington, D.C., and Plymouth, Massachusetts. They also stopped at every automobile factory, every steel mill and rubber manufacturing plant on their entire route.
Maitland graduated from Glendale High School in 1927 and then from Occidental College. Maitland's father, a physician himself, had cautioned Maitland against becoming a doctor. He said it would not be fair to his future family because so much of his time would be taken from them. However, once in college, Maitland felt called to become a doctor even as he felt torn by the memory of his father's admonition. He finished his medical studies at Stanford University in 1936 and then went to Iowa City for training in radiology—a speciality that he felt was a compromise and would honor his father's advice about having time for his family.
After Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, Maitland was given a physical examination for military service. A cancerous tumor was discovered on his pelvis which could develop very quickly in a young person. His doctors, who had also been his professors, decided to operate and remove a good part of his pelvis, reconstructing it with bone taken from his legs. He was in a body cast for many months and later his left hip remained paralyzed. In spite of his physical woes, Maitland did serve his country. He and his family moved from Iowa City to Phoenix where he was still hospitalized in a body cast. Since he could see clearly, the military medical unit set up equipment in his hospital room so he could read the x-rays of drafted soldiers. Maitland eventually was able to walk again, but always with pain.
He moved to Long Beach, California, in 1946 and to North Hollywood in 1947, where he practiced radiology in Van Nuys for many years.
As he approached retirement age, Maitland relocated to Bakersfield, California, where he could more easily reach the rural hospitals and prisons that he served as radiologist. Just as he had been willing to drive long distances to share the world with his children, he was undaunted by the miles he drove to read the waiting x-rays. Maitland finally retired when he was 80.
Dr. Maitland Stanley Dirks passed away on February 12, 1992, at 82. He and Annie Irene had been married for 56 years. His life had benefited from the wonders of medical science, and Maitland chose to will his body to Loma Linda University School of Medicine.
—Shirley Dirks Thiéry
Dr. Charles Dirks accepted positions at Occidental College, Los Angeles County General Hospital and Glendale Hospital, and moved the family from Illinois to Los Angeles. In 1913 the Dirks family was residing at 118 Ellenwood Drive in Eagle Rock.
Maitland was 14 in 1924 when his father died. His mother had gone by train from Eagle Rock to Baraboo, Wisconsin, for the burial of her own mother. It was while she was in Wisconsin for her mother's funeral that her husband died, apparently of strep throat, in Glendale Hospital. Maitland and his younger brother Dempster accompanied their father's body to Chicago where they were met by their mother. Dr. Charles Dirks was buried in LaGrange, Illinois.
To help with the family's finances, Maitland spent the summer following his father's death working on a fishing boat harbored in San Pedro. He was out at sea for six weeks. Maitland later kept in touch with the fisherman's family and would visit San Pedro with his own children.
When Maitland was courting his future wife, Annie Irene Ward, he befriended her younger brother, Edward Ward. Edward's father had died when he was 12, and the two bonded over losing fathers while they were still young boys. Maitland and his brother Dempster offered to take Edward on a road trip across the United States. So in 1933, the three young men—Maitland 23, Dempster 21 and Edward 16–motored 10,000 miles in nine weeks. They visited many points of interest including the Chicago World's Fair, Washington, D.C., and Plymouth, Massachusetts. They also stopped at every automobile factory, every steel mill and rubber manufacturing plant on their entire route.
Maitland graduated from Glendale High School in 1927 and then from Occidental College. Maitland's father, a physician himself, had cautioned Maitland against becoming a doctor. He said it would not be fair to his future family because so much of his time would be taken from them. However, once in college, Maitland felt called to become a doctor even as he felt torn by the memory of his father's admonition. He finished his medical studies at Stanford University in 1936 and then went to Iowa City for training in radiology—a speciality that he felt was a compromise and would honor his father's advice about having time for his family.
After Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, Maitland was given a physical examination for military service. A cancerous tumor was discovered on his pelvis which could develop very quickly in a young person. His doctors, who had also been his professors, decided to operate and remove a good part of his pelvis, reconstructing it with bone taken from his legs. He was in a body cast for many months and later his left hip remained paralyzed. In spite of his physical woes, Maitland did serve his country. He and his family moved from Iowa City to Phoenix where he was still hospitalized in a body cast. Since he could see clearly, the military medical unit set up equipment in his hospital room so he could read the x-rays of drafted soldiers. Maitland eventually was able to walk again, but always with pain.
He moved to Long Beach, California, in 1946 and to North Hollywood in 1947, where he practiced radiology in Van Nuys for many years.
As he approached retirement age, Maitland relocated to Bakersfield, California, where he could more easily reach the rural hospitals and prisons that he served as radiologist. Just as he had been willing to drive long distances to share the world with his children, he was undaunted by the miles he drove to read the waiting x-rays. Maitland finally retired when he was 80.
Dr. Maitland Stanley Dirks passed away on February 12, 1992, at 82. He and Annie Irene had been married for 56 years. His life had benefited from the wonders of medical science, and Maitland chose to will his body to Loma Linda University School of Medicine.
—Shirley Dirks Thiéry
Gravesite Details
His cenotaph is located with his wife's grave in Oakwood Memorial Park in Chatsworth, California.
