Dr. Wolfgang O. Schlosser passed away at home March 3, 2024, in Fair Haven after suffering from Alzheimer’s. He was 88.
Wolfgang is survived by his daughter Dorothea; son-in-law Tom; grandchildren, Anika and Thaddeus; and brother Achim. Wolfgang was preceded in death by his wife Charlotte and son Michael.
Wolfgang was born in Bingen am Rhein, Germany. He studied electrical engineering at the Technische Hochschule Darmstadt and met Charlotte during his post-graduate studies. After a brief courtship, they married and moved first to Braunschweig, Germany, to teach at the Technical University there. In 1966 he received an offer to work in Murray Hill at Bell Laboratories as a member of the technical staff. Wolfgang and Charlotte packed their belongings and VW Bug into a shipping container and moved to the U.S., settling in Basking Ridge.
His work over the next 20 years included research and development in the fields of lasers, microwave applications and power supply technology, which included numerous publications and five patents. Over those years Ma Bell was divided up into the Baby Bells.
Wolfgang loved planning family vacations, photographing family, flora and fauna along the way. (And, of course, the requisite slide shows afterward.) He was handy at home, building cabinetry, installing sprinklers in Charlotte’s garden and teaching Dorothea to clean spark plugs.
In 1988, his division moved to Dallas and he chose to transfer to the Holmdel lab. There he worked on fiber optic cables as part of the repeater division. The family relocated to Fair Haven where they enjoyed living close to the shore.
After his retirement, Wolfgang and Charlotte traveled all over the world. Destinations included Patagonia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Turkey and China. In Wolfgang’s newfound time, he was a doting grandfather, volunteered at HABcore in Red Bank on the organization’s advisory board and assisted with programming for the Red Bank Chamber Music Society.
The family is especially grateful to Corina and Fidel who were unfailingly patient and loving when caring for Wolfgang in his final years, enabling him to spend the last years in his own home, surrounded by his books, his music and Charlotte’s garden.
A memorial service was held March 16 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County in Lincroft. There will be a concert and remembrances followed by a reception.
In lieu of flowers, please make a gift in Wolfgang’s name to the Red Bank Chamber Music Society or HABcore in Red Bank.
Thompson Memorial Home of Red Bank has been entrusted with the arrangements.
The article originally appeared in the March 21 – 27, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
