View source for Frank Oberle Sr.

{{Short description|Canadian politician (1932–2024)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Honourable]]
| name                = Frank Oberle
| honorific-suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|size=100%}}
| image               = 
| caption             = 
| office              = [[Minister of Natural Resources#Minister of Forestry|Minister of Forestry]]
| primeminister       = [[Brian Mulroney]]
| term_start          = February 23, 1990
| term_end            = June 24, 1993
| predecessor         = [[Jack Davis (Canadian politician)|Jack Davis]] (1971)
| successor           = [[Bobbie Sparrow]]
| constituency_MP1    = [[Prince George—Peace River]]
| parliament1         = Canadian
| predecessor1        = [[Bob Borrie|Robert Borrie]]
| successor1          = [[Jay Hill (politician)|Jay Hill]]
| term_start1         = October 30, 1972
| term_end1           = October 25, 1993
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1932|3|24}}
| birth_place         = [[Forchheim (Rheinstetten)|Forchheim]], [[Republic of Baden|Baden]], [[Weimar Republic|Germany]]
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|2024|9|12|1932|3|24}}
| death_place         = [[Squamish, British Columbia|Squamish]], [[British Columbia]], [[Canada]]
| nationality         = 
| spouse              = 
| party               = [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]]
| relations           = 
| children            = [[Frank Oberle Jr.]]
| residence           = 
| alma_mater          = 
| occupation          = 
| profession          = 
}}

'''Frank Oberle Sr.''' {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC}} (March 24, 1932 – September 12, 2024) was a Canadian businessman and politician.<ref>{{Cite web
|title=OBERLE, The Hon. Frank, P.C.
|url=http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Files/Parliamentarian.aspx?Item=67f94ff8-9189-41ff-b492-144787d47708&Language=E&Section=ALL
|publisher=Library of Parliament
|access-date=2010-02-20
|archive-date=May 8, 2013
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508173649/http://www.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Files/Parliamentarian.aspx?Item=67f94ff8-9189-41ff-b492-144787d47708&Language=E&Section=ALL
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>

==Life and career==
Born in Forchheim near Karlsruhe, Germany, Oberle moved with his family to German-occupied Poland in 1941. There he was placed in a [[Hitler Youth]] indoctrination program. Later, he fled the [[Red Army]] advance, surviving on grass and stolen eggs while walking 800 kilometres to his home village in the [[Black Forest]]. Rejected by his relatives, he immigrated to Canada at the age of 19 and became a [[Lumberjack|logger]] and then a gold miner.

Oberle entered municipal politics, becoming mayor of [[Chetwynd, British Columbia|Chetwynd]]. He entered federal politics and was elected to the [[House of Commons of Canada]] in the [[1972 Canadian federal election|1972 general election]] as the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]] [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Prince George—Peace River]], [[British Columbia]]. He subsequently won re-election five times.

In 1985, Oberle became the first German-born federal [[Canadian cabinet]] minister when he became [[Minister of State (Canada)|Minister of State]] for Science and Technology in [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] [[Brian Mulroney]]'s government. He was science minister when the [[Canadarm]] went into space as part of the [[Space Shuttle]] program. He later became Minister of State for Forestry, and then [[Minister of Forestry (Canada)|Minister of Forestry]] in 1990.

Oberle retired from Cabinet when [[Kim Campbell]] succeeded Mulroney as Prime Minister, and retired from politics with the dissolution of the [[34th Canadian Parliament]] for the [[1993 Canadian federal election|1993 election]].

In 2004, Oberle published a [[memoir]] of his [[World War II]] experiences, ''Finding Home: A War Child’s Journey to Peace'' (2004). A second memoir, ''A Chosen Path: From Moccasin Flats to Parliament Hill'', was published in the same year.

His son [[Frank Oberle Jr.]] was elected to the [[Legislative Assembly of Alberta]] in the [[2004 Alberta general election|2004 provincial election]], and was appointed Solicitor General on January 13, 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2438222 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20100115162545/http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2438222 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2010-01-15 |title=Stelmach makes major changes to Alberta cabinet |publisher=National Post |access-date=2010-02-07 }}</ref>

Oberle died on September 12, 2024, in [[Squamish, British Columbia|Squamish]], [[British Columbia]], two weeks after his wife of Joan, at the age of 92.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ernst |first=Trent |date=2024-09-22 |title=Frank Oberle, former MP who described Tumbler Ridge as “a breeding ground of human misery” passes away - Tumbler RidgeLines |url=https://tumblerridgelines.com/2024/09/22/frank-oberle-former-mp-who-described-tumbler-ridge-as-a-breeding-ground-of-human-misery-passes-away/ |access-date=2024-09-24 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>https://energeticcity.ca/2024/09/24/frank-oberle-sr-canadas-first-german-born-federal-minister-passes-away-at-92/</ref>

==Electoral history==
{{1988 Canadian federal election/Prince George—Peace River}}
{{1984 Canadian federal election/Prince George—Peace River}}
{{1984 Canadian federal election/Prince George—Peace River}}
{{1980 Canadian federal election/Prince George—Peace River}}
{{1979 Canadian federal election/Prince George—Peace River}}
{{1974 Canadian federal election/Prince George—Peace River}}
{{1972 Canadian federal election/Prince George—Peace River}}

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|title= Finding Home: A War Child's Journey to Peace|last= Oberle|first= Frank|year= 2004|publisher= Heritage House|location= [[Surrey, British Columbia|Surrey, BC]]|isbn= 978-1-894384-76-6|oclc= 56370627|url-access= registration|url= https://archive.org/details/findinghomewarch0000ober}}
*{{cite book |title= A chosen path : from Moccasin Flats to Parliament Hill|url= https://archive.org/details/chosenpathfrommo0000ober|url-access= registration|last= Oberle|first= Frank|year= 2005|publisher= Heritage House|location= [[Surrey, British Columbia|Surrey, BC]]|isbn= 978-1-894384-83-4|oclc= 60318962 }}

==External links==
*{{Canadian Parliament links|ID=1329}}

{{Mulroney Ministry}}
{{CA-Ministers of the Environment}}
{{CA-Ministers of Natural Resources}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberle, Frank Sr.}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:2024 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada]]
[[Category:Canadian loggers]]
[[Category:Canadian miners]]
[[Category:German emigrants to Canada]]
[[Category:Hitler Youth members]]
[[Category:20th-century mayors of places in British Columbia]]
[[Category:Members of the 24th Canadian Ministry]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia]]
[[Category:Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada]]
[[Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs]]
[[Category:Ministers of the environment of Canada]]