Stanley Schmale passed away gently at his home in Eagle Creek on May 25. He had battled dementia for some time. He was diligently cared for by his family and Mt. Hood Hospice for two months. Due to this virus situation, there will be no service.
Stanley Alvin Schmale was born March 15, 1945, the Ides of March. He grew up in Boring on the family’s 135-acre farm on Tickle Creek Road with his two brothers and sister. He attended Boring Grade and Sandy High, graduating in 1963. Upon graduation, he joined the National Guard and rose to the rank of sergeant. He then worked for Raygo Wagner Mining in Portland, where he operated the burning machine. He could squeeze more product out of a piece of steel than the computerized machine that replaced him.
In November 1969, he married Margaret Minkel after a six-month courtship. A man of efficiency, he saw no reason to drag it out. They bought their ten-acre farm in Eagle Creek a year later, with the help of his father-in-law’s unused WWII benefits. It was unfenced and the house was surrounded by blackberries and giant maples. The seller was apologetic about the state of the land, but Stan said, “I have a bulldozer; I can fix it,” and the deal was done. It was his home for fifty years.
The selling point was that the house was a double dwelling. On November 11, the Minkels left their Portland home after 40 years to the day and moved in with the Schmales. They all lived together for twenty years until they passed. The landscaping they planted remains.
Stan built a shop, a barn, and machine sheds. He equipped the shop, told a few neighbors what he could do for them, and Stan’s Cat Works & Equipment came to be. He closed the shop in 2012. His skills were self-taught but masterful in artisanship. He said a good welder could always recognize his weld.
He is survived by his wife Margaret and two daughters, Anna Lewis and Donna Piccolo, two grandchildren, and his youngest brother, Gary.
He never traveled, and was not a social person; he was a quiet man of the land, a solid, honest, no-messing-around kind of guy. A good neighbor, family man, and husband of 50 years. If you knew Stan Schmale, you knew a rare breed of a man.
His ashes will be interred at Sandy Ridge Cemetery. After the summer haying, the family will have a gathering on the property to remember the old farmer.