CHELMSFORD, MA – An innovative engineer, Dietmar Maximilian Schoeffel, 86, died peacefully after a very brief illness at Lahey Hospital in Burlington, Massachusetts, on Sept. 16, 2017. Born July 8, 1931, in Czechoslovakia, he became an Engineering Master and started two small businesses before immigrating to America in 1957. He founded Schoeffel Instruments, Westwood, New Jersey, and later acquired McPherson Instruments, Acton, Massachusetts, in 1981. Both companies manufacture scientific instruments used for spectroscopy that measure light and color. He was always active, as an entrepreneur, avid sailor, hiker and dancer. Most of all, he enjoyed coming to work at his business every day.