Captain Roger Allen Stahl, formerly of Garden City and Livonia, passed away on Thursday, May 20, 2010 at his home in Westland, Michigan.  He was 87 years of age and had been a member of Detroit Lodge No. 7 for over 29 years.  He joined the lodge on December 16, 1980 and was issued pennant number 10300.

 

Roger was born on April 8, 1923 in Bayfield, Wisconsin, the son of Allen and Beatrice (LaPointe) Stahl.  He was a World War II veteran.  After returning to Bayfield in 1946, he took a job with Roen Steamship Co. as a tugboat Captain. 

 

Roger married Leona Nickasch of Appleton, Wisconsin in 1947.  The marriage produced two daughters, Pamela of Pinckney, MI and Diane of Westland, MI.  Leona predeceased Roger in 2004.

 

In 1951, Roger accepted a position in Detroit with the Dunbar and Sullivan Dredging Company as a tugboat Captain.  He participated in the International Tugboat Races on the Detroit River and brought the England Trophy to the United States by finishing in first place aboard the tug Sachem.  In 1956, Roger worked with Dunbar and Sullivan dredging the St. Lawrence Seaway during the initial construction phase.  Over the years he worked on each of the Great Lakes, in New York Harbor building a new rapid transit tunnel under the East River, in New Haven, Connecticut dredging a new submarine base for the U.S. Navy, and in Venezuela, South America as a maritime fleet engineer.

 

In 1979 Roger accepted a Fleet Engineer position with the Gaelic Tugboat Company based in Detroit.  He was responsible for maintaining a fleet of tugboats from Buffalo to Detroit, and oversaw the repowering of a number of tugboats in the Gaelic fleet, including the Coast Guard icebreaker Kaw.  Gaelic renamed the Kaw the “Roger Stahl” in his honor.  The tug Roger Stahl served Gaelic until 2004 when it was sold for off-lakes use.  Roger retired from Gaelic in 2003, but continued to respond to calls from Gaelic for technical assistance.

 

Roger was a life member of the Order of Alhambra (Tagus Caravan No. 147), the Knights of Columbus, and ISMA Detroit Lodge No. 7.  From the 1950’s, he was a member of St. Raphael Catholic Church in Garden City and in 1978 became of member of St. Genevieve Catholic Church in Livonia.

 

Roger will lie in state at Manns Ferguson Funeral Home, 17000 Middlebelt Road, (Just South of 6 Mile Rd.) Livonia MI 48154 (734-425-1800) on Sunday, May 23, 2010 from Noon to 8:00 PM.  The funeral Mass will be at St. Genevieve Catholic Church, 29015 Jamison, Livonia, MI on Monday, May 24, 2010 at 11:00 AM.  In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to Angela Hospice 14100 Newburgh Rd.; Livonia, MI 48154

The funeral home obituary can be viewed by clicking HERE.