Peter J. Stadelman

Peter Stadelman was born in Hempstead, New York, on October 29, 1871, to an Austrian immigrant and native New Yorker.[1] His father, Joseph, immigrated to the United States in 1869, where he married Mary Rath.[2] He was raised near The Dalles along the Columbia River at the family's farm, which once belonged to the Catholic Mission.[3] Stadelman received his education at the public schools in The Dalles before starting work as a paper delivery boy for The Oregonian, and then as an assistant at the local post office.[1][2]

In 1893, Stadelman began working in the ice and fruit business,[1] which led him to start his own company in 1898, the Stadelman Fruit and Ice Company.[3] He was married in 1904 to Mary Kelly Hicks, and they would have two sons, Wilbur and George Peter.[1] Stadelman purchased the family farm with his brother in 1907 from their father.[1][2] In 1920, he was a founder of the Citizen's National Bank in that city, and would later serve as the president of the bank.[1]

Stadelman first entered politics as a city councilor in The Dalles, serving from 1908 to 1914.[1] In 1918, he became the mayor of the city and remained in office until 1928.[1] On February 6, 1934, Oregon Secretary of State Hal E. Hoss died in office.[4] Oregon Governor Julius Meier appointed the Republican Stadelman on February 9, to fill the remaining term of Hoss.[3] Stadelman served as Secretary of State from that day until January 7, 1935, when Earl Snell took office.[4] In 1936, he was elected to the Oregon State Senate to represent District 16 covering Wasco and Hood River counties as a Republican.[5] Stadelman won re-election to additional four-year terms in 1940[6] and 1944,[7] and served through the 1947 legislative session.[8]

At one time his company had the biggest cold storage facility in the eastern portion of Oregon.[2] His wife died on July 10, 1924.[2] In 1930, he sold his cold storage company to his sons, which was later moved to Yakima, Washington.[9] Peter John Stadelman died on January 10, 1954, at the age of 82.[1]