US Congressman. He was born one of five children to Oscar A. Abele and Margaret "Maggie" Burke Abele in Wellston, Ohio. He was educated in local common public schools and attended and graduated from Wellston High School in Wellston, Ohio, in 1934. He then served two years in the Civilian Conservations Corps from 1935 to 1936. In 1938, he married Addie Riggs and the couple would have three children together. That same year, he played professional baseball for the Cincinnati Reds minor league farm club in Nashville, Tennessee. He then moved to Lancaster, Ohio, and McArthur, Ohio, and worked for the Anchor Hocking Glass Corporation and the Austin Powder Company from 1938 to 1941. He also worked as a state trooper for the Ohio State Highway Patrol from 1941 to 1946. During World War II, he served in the United States Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1946. He also attended the prestigious Ohio State University in Athens, Ohio, where he earned a pre-law degree (B.A. or Bachelor of Laws), from 1946 to 1948. During his time at Ohio State University, he got a taste for politics and he decided to run for a public office. He ran while still a student for a seat as a Member of the Ohio State House of Representatives and was elected and served a term from 1949 to 1952. In 1952, he joined the unsuccessful presidential campaign of United States Representative and the United States Senator Robert Alphonso Taft. He then studied law at the Ohio State University College of Law in Columbus, Ohio, where he earned a law degree (J.D. or Juris Doctor) in 1953. He was admitted to the Ohio State Bar in 1954. He then served as Legislative Counsel for a Special Transportation Committee from 1953 to 1957, Chairman of the Vinton County, Ohio, Republican Executive Committee from 1954 to 1957, and was a lobbyist for railroad interests from 1956 to 1957. In 1956, he was appointed Solicitor of the Village of McArthur, Ohio. He also served as a Delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1956. In 1958, he ran as a Member of the Republican Party for a seat in the United States Congress to represent Ohio's 10th District (Eighty-Sixth Congress and Eighty-Seventh Congress) but he lost the election to the incumbent United States Representative Walter Henry Moeller. He then continued with his law practice and other interests for a few years. He then decided to run again against United States Representative Walter Henry Moeller for a seat in the United States Congress in 1962 and this time he was elected. A Member of the Republican Party, he then served Ohio's 10th District (Eighty-Eighth Congress) in the United States House of Representatives from 1963 to 1965. He was an unsuccessful Candidate for reelection to the Eighty-Ninth Congress in 1964. After his term in the United States Congress expired on January 3, 1965, he was succeeded in office by his former running mate and United States Representative Walter Henry Moeller. He then was elected as a Judge of the Ohio Court of Appeals for the Fourth District in 1966. He was then re-elected as a Judge of the Ohio Court of Appeals for the Fourth District in 1972, 1978, 1984, and again in 1991. During his time in office, he was a Presiding Judge from 1977 to 1978, and again from 1983 to 1984. He was also a Chief Justice of the Ohio Court of Appeals in 1978 and was a Visiting Judge occasionally on the Ohio Supreme Court. During this time he was also a Member of the Ohio State Highway Patrol Auxiliary with the rank of Major, and every graduating class of the Ohio State Highway Patrol Academy was administered its oath of office by him from 1967 to 1991. He passed away on May 12, 2000, at the age of 83, at the Huston Nursing Home in Hamden, Ohio, after suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He was cremated and his ashes were interred at the Elk Cemetery in McArthur, Ohio. His wife Addie passed away on June 17, 2018, at the age of 99. He was also a lifelong member of several important organizations including American Legion Post 303, he was executive officer to the Ohio State Commander. He was a Vinton County, Ohio, Trustee of the Southeast Ohio Regional Council, past President of the McArthur Lions Club, a life member of the Society of the South Pole, and a Member of the Black Diamond Lodge of Wellston, Scottish Rite Valley of Columbus, Taberah Shrine Club and Aladdin Temple Shrine. He was also the Ohio State Department Judge Advocate for the Ohio American Legion, and Chairman of the Court Section of the American Legion Buckeye Boys State from 1969 to 1979 and Boys State President from 1981 to 1982. One of his obituaries said of him, "Throughout his life, he touched the hearts of many people. He was an eternal optimist and greeted everyone with a big, sincere smile and a friendly handshake. His appeal was felt by those on both sides of the political aisle and transcended the confines of political partisanship. He was a genuinely nice man of high integrity, principles and virtue, who treated all with respect. He was the consummate role model for his children, and his persona was seemingly larger than life. He provided an extraordinary life experience for his family that will always be cherished, and that continues to this day through his legacy."