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From Apogee's (https://www.apogeerockets.com/) Rocketry E-zine Newsletter 260 comes this very sad news:
Mike Dorffler Prepares for Final Lift-Off
It is with deep sadness to hear that my dear friend, Mike Dorffler, has announced that he has an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer and may have only weeks to live.
If you don't know him, Mike is a man whose life mattered. It mattered to me, and he probably touched your life too, even though you don't know it. Mike was hired by Vern Estes in the late 1960's after he submitted a unique video camera design idea to Estes Industries. You may know that camera by the name Cineroc.
When I was brought on to work at Estes in 1991, Mike quickly became my best friend at the plant. We car-pooled to work every day, because we lived only a few blocks apart from each other. He taught me a lot about model rocketry, and how to market it to customers.
While I worked at Estes, I can't think of a single rocketry product that Mike didn't touch in some way. And his ideas always made the product better. Where I was good at aerodynamics, Mike is phenomenal at electronics and anything photographic. If a product came out of Estes with electronics inside it, you can bet that Mike designed it.
I would bounce a lot of ideas off Mike from a marketing perspective, and he would always give me excellent advice because of his extensive experience and photographic memory. From that perspective, I can say that Mike was my first business mentor. I was only as smart as the degree to which I followed his wisdom.
In the early 2000's, Mike left Estes and joined me as an employee of Apogee Components. He did three great rockets for me, the Apogee Aspire rocket kit, and both 1/70th scale Saturn V and Saturn 1B kits. I still remember the first time we flew the Saturn V together. He was holding the video camera of the launch, which is on the DVD of the instructions.
Unfortunately, being a small company, I couldn't pay Mike what he was worth, nor was I able to offer him the health care benefits he and his wife needed. From here, he went to work for the State of Colorado, and then he was fortunate to return back to Estes Industries where he was able to continue to offer great advice and cool rocket products. I don't know what products he had his hand in the last few years, but when I see all the video rockets, I can't help suspect that he designed them.
Mike, if you're reading this, I want to say that your life had meaning. We'll be talking about you and your rockets for decades. You touched a lot of lives with your designs, and have inspired countless number of kids to fly rockets. You're a genius and I have missed our long chats together. It is my prayer that your final days prior to your journey to be with our Lord will be painless and joyful. Know with certainty, which I can attest too, that you left the world a better place than when you got here.
Readers: Mike's one great love, besides rocketry, is his wife, Vickie. Whenever we had long discussions, he'd always get around to talking about how he wanted to better take care of Vickie and to provide to her everything her heart desired. I know it would mean a lot to Mike if you'd send her a note expressing thanks to her for allowing us to share a bit of Mike's time and efforts. Every second he worked on our rocketry products was a second that he couldn't spend with her.
The Mailing address is:
Mike & Vickie Dorffler
2418 Greenway Circle
Canon City, Colorado 81212 USA
Mike Dorffler Prepares for Final Lift-Off
It is with deep sadness to hear that my dear friend, Mike Dorffler, has announced that he has an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer and may have only weeks to live.
If you don't know him, Mike is a man whose life mattered. It mattered to me, and he probably touched your life too, even though you don't know it. Mike was hired by Vern Estes in the late 1960's after he submitted a unique video camera design idea to Estes Industries. You may know that camera by the name Cineroc.
When I was brought on to work at Estes in 1991, Mike quickly became my best friend at the plant. We car-pooled to work every day, because we lived only a few blocks apart from each other. He taught me a lot about model rocketry, and how to market it to customers.
While I worked at Estes, I can't think of a single rocketry product that Mike didn't touch in some way. And his ideas always made the product better. Where I was good at aerodynamics, Mike is phenomenal at electronics and anything photographic. If a product came out of Estes with electronics inside it, you can bet that Mike designed it.
I would bounce a lot of ideas off Mike from a marketing perspective, and he would always give me excellent advice because of his extensive experience and photographic memory. From that perspective, I can say that Mike was my first business mentor. I was only as smart as the degree to which I followed his wisdom.
In the early 2000's, Mike left Estes and joined me as an employee of Apogee Components. He did three great rockets for me, the Apogee Aspire rocket kit, and both 1/70th scale Saturn V and Saturn 1B kits. I still remember the first time we flew the Saturn V together. He was holding the video camera of the launch, which is on the DVD of the instructions.
Unfortunately, being a small company, I couldn't pay Mike what he was worth, nor was I able to offer him the health care benefits he and his wife needed. From here, he went to work for the State of Colorado, and then he was fortunate to return back to Estes Industries where he was able to continue to offer great advice and cool rocket products. I don't know what products he had his hand in the last few years, but when I see all the video rockets, I can't help suspect that he designed them.
Mike, if you're reading this, I want to say that your life had meaning. We'll be talking about you and your rockets for decades. You touched a lot of lives with your designs, and have inspired countless number of kids to fly rockets. You're a genius and I have missed our long chats together. It is my prayer that your final days prior to your journey to be with our Lord will be painless and joyful. Know with certainty, which I can attest too, that you left the world a better place than when you got here.
Readers: Mike's one great love, besides rocketry, is his wife, Vickie. Whenever we had long discussions, he'd always get around to talking about how he wanted to better take care of Vickie and to provide to her everything her heart desired. I know it would mean a lot to Mike if you'd send her a note expressing thanks to her for allowing us to share a bit of Mike's time and efforts. Every second he worked on our rocketry products was a second that he couldn't spend with her.
The Mailing address is:
Mike & Vickie Dorffler
2418 Greenway Circle
Canon City, Colorado 81212 USA
