Machias logger shared simple joys with his children
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, December 4, 2003
Roads were bumpy, the cab was noisy, but nothing could deter the Stadin children from spending time with their dad.
When your father is a log truck driver and you get to spend a day hauling trees chained together, growing up in Machias is great.
Carolee Stadin packed a lunch for her husband and the lucky young passenger as they hauled logs, built mountain roads or cleared land.
On school breaks, one of Emil John Stadin Jr.’s eight youngsters often rode with their father. Sadly, Stadin took his last log truck ride the Saturday before Thanksgiving. He died Nov. 19 of cancer. Per his request, his cremated remains were placed in the earth at his parent’s grave site.
The Stadin sons, John, Ron and Jamie, drove their father’s urn to Evergreen Cemetery.
As the family says, Stadin, 77, a retired logger, went to the old-growth forest in the sky. Many of his old friends in the Machias area will miss him.
Earl Carey, 71, who lives near the Stadin homestead on Newberg Road, said the town lost an ever-smiling person who bulldozed many local driveways.
"He built roads for his neighbors," Carey said. "Not just for the money, he would do it as a friend."
Some will remember Stadin as the driver of their school bus. While he was attending Snohomish High School, Stadin got a job driving the yellow rig. His wife, Carolee, remembers riding the bus with the handsome driver when she was in the seventh grade.
Driving heavy equipment was in his blood, the family said. A valued heirloom picture shows Stadin standing near a truck in 1945, hauling the first light poles to the Lake Stevens High School football field.
After Stadin served in the Army in the Korean War, he began dating Machias native Carolee Carlson after he asked her to dance at the French Creek Grange.
"I thought he was something else," she said. "He was real confident. He had been in the Army and had seen a lot of life."
Her caring partner still opened her door after 48 years of marriage.
Though her gallant husband seldom spoke about the war in Korea, the Papa Smurf look-alike used his life experiences to teach his children the value of hard work and the joy of growing up in the country.
"Dad had a Model A," John Stadin said. "When it would snow, he would tow our sleds and inner tubes on Newberg Road."
His father, who never spanked his children, earned their respect by his actions. Ron Stadin said his father would help drivers out of ditches during snowy winters.
"He would do anything for anybody," Ron Stadin said. "His kids were number one. We were all special."
All three sons work in the logging or heavy equipment business, as well as one of his grandsons.
His daughters had horses.
Each of the eight children got a car when they came of age.
His eldest, Mary Allen, said one tough winter, when their father was out of work, the family ate plenty of navy-bean soup.
"Dad was home, and he played in the snow with us and our two dogs, making huge snowmen," Allen said. "Even though we didn’t have all the material things that others had, we always knew our dad loved us and cared for us. None of us ever felt we were deprived."
Stadin leaves his wife and daughters, Cheryl and husband Lance Young, Mary and husband Doug Allen, Jeanne and husband Gary Marquez, Joni and Maureen; three sons, John and wife Mia, Ron and wife Brenda, and Jamie. He also leaves 10 grandchildren; and one great-grandson; a sister, Jane and husband Jack Hawkins; and numerous nieces and nephews.
His youngest son, Jamie Stadin, said in a poem that his father gave his children love, laughter and filled them with pride.
"We’ll miss you so much around the fire pit, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows into the night," Jamie Stadin wrote.
"Thanks for all the lessons you gave us through the years, especially the one about releasing all these tears."
Though his parents didn’t recently have pets, they enjoyed their "grand" dogs. Carolee Stadin said her husband always carried dog treats in his pocket.
He was one of a kind, she added.
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or
