Dr. Emanuel F. Oehler, whose most proficient surgical work has gained him prominence in the profession in St. Louis, was born in Yorktown, Texas, September 23, 1877, a son of the late Rev. Michael Oehler, who was an Evangelical Lutheran minister. He was born, reared and educated in Baden, Germany, and was graduated from a theological seminary there, after which he was united in marriage to Louise Mueller. They came to America following the close of the Civil war, first settling in New Orleans and later removing to Texas, where Mr. Oehler continued in the active work of the ministry to the time of his death, which occurred at Pflugerville, Texas, in 1882. His wife, who was born in Baden, Germany, died at Johannisburg, Illinois, May 30, 1917, when past the age of seventy-one years. They are survived by all of their four children, two sons and two daughters.
Dr. Oehler obtained his primary education in the public schools of the Lone Star state and continued his studies in the Missouri public schools, after which he entered the Pro Seminary College at Elmhurst, Illinois, for the study of theology, it being the wish of his parents that he become a clergyman. He attended the latter school for two years and then entered Central Wesleyan College at Warrenton, Missouri, where he continued his theological studies for four years, completing his preparation for the ministry in the Eden Theological Seminary at St. Louis. This calling, however, was never of his choice, as he possessed a natural tendency toward medical practice, and at length he abandoned his studies for the ministry and took a position in the Deaconess Hospital in St. Louis, where he engaged in nursing for four years. This brought to him valuable practical experience and on leaving the hospital he took up the study of medicine in the Marion Sims College, now the medical department of the St. Louis University. In 1906 he was graduated with the M. D. degree and immediately entered upon active practice. He has made steady and rapid progress since that time and his ability is pronounced, especially in the field of surgery, to which he has devoted his entire attention since 1910. He keeps in touch with professional thought and progress as a member of the St. Louis Medical Society, the Missouri State Medical Association and the American Medical Association.
On the 23d of March, 1905, in St. Louis county, Dr. Oehler was married to Miss Emma Helen Schloerke, a native of South Bend, Indiana, and a daughter of Albert and Louise Schloerke. They have one child, Wanita Eleonora, who was born December 22, 1908, and is with her parents at 5386 Pershing avenue. Dr. Oehler and his wife are members of the Westminster Presbyterian church and his political belief is that of the republican party. He loyally upholds and supports all these forces which make for the moral progress and the civic righteousness of his community and has exercised his influence in behalf of all those forces which are an element in the public good.