Donald Oswald Oesterling (June 2, 1927 – January 20, 2013) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Democratic member of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

for the 21st district from 1965 to 1972.

Early life

Donald O. Oesterling was born in Butler, Pennsylvania to Victor K. and Margorie (Oswald) Oesterling. He attended local schools and during World War II, enlisted in the

U.S. Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

and served in the Atlantic Theater. He received an undergraduate degree from

Capitol University Capitol University is a non-sectarian, co-educational private university located in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines. It is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a stock corporation and operates with the authority of the Departme ...

and worked for a while as a radio commentator.

Career

He was elected to the Pennsylvania Senate for the 21st district and served from 1965 to 1972. In 1971, he sponsored the Oesterling amendment which legalized abortion in cases of rape and incest. He was the state president of PA Elks, the Exalter Ruler of Butler Elks 170, a member of the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

, and the

Veterans of Foreign Wars The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an organization of US war veterans, who, as military service members fought in wars, campaigns, and expeditions on foreign land, waters, or a ...

. He died at a retirement community at Bedford, Virginia in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oesterling, Donald 1927 births 2013 deaths 20th-century American legislators United States Navy personnel of World War II Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators People from Butler, Pennsylvania United States Navy reservists 20th-century Pennsylvania politicians