Peter Joseph Schardt was born October 7, 1878 in Saukville, Wisconsin, the son of Peter Schardt and Mary Anna Bell.
In the 1910 census, he was living with his Aunt Stella Bell in Milwaukee. In the 1930 census, he was single and living in Washington DC. In the 1940 census, he was single and renting a house at 3700 Massachusetts Avenue in Washington DC. His occupation was business executive and he had finished college and was earning more than $5,000 a year.
He died on April 20, 1950 in Milwaukee and is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Milwaukee. There is a Plaque outside the Immaculate Conception Church in Saukville that pays tribute to him.
Obituary in the Milwaukee Journal April 20, 1950:
Peter Schardt is dead here; Was Railway Official
Peter J. Schardt, 71, who once lived in Milwaukee and who established a postal system in the American occupation zone of Germany after World War II, died Wednesday [April 19, 1950] at St. Mary’s hospital. He became ill Jan. 15 in Washington, D.C., where he lived, and was hospitalized there until his transfer here about a month ago. For about 30 years Mr. Schardt served as chairman of the railway mail transportation committee of the American Association of Railroads. He retained this position after retiring about a year ago as assistant vice-president of the Southern Railway system in charge of mail and express baggage. The chairmanship was an additional duty of his position as vice-president.
In 1945, Mr. Schardt spent 10 months in Germany setting up the postal system under the directorship of the American occupation authorities. Long an expert on railway postal service, he had been in charge of mail service in Europe for the American expeditionary force in World War I.
Returned here in 1945. Mr. Schardt visited Milwaukee on returning from Germany in March, 1946, and many times subsequently. His last visit here was at Christmas time, 1949, when he stopped to see an aunt, Mrs. Stella Bell, and nieces and nephews.
As a railway mail clerk, Mr. Schardt had roomed and boarded with Mrs. Bell early in his career. He served on runs from Chicago to Iron Mountain, Mich. Later he moved up to superintendent of government railway mail service, supervising postal service in the Chicago district. In 1917 he assumed the same duties in New York. He was born in Saukville, Wis.
Member of KC’s. After World War I Mr. Schardt was named assistant vice-president of the Southern Railway system. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus.
Unmarried, Mr. Schardt is survived by a sister, Mrs. Frank Rooney of Mukwonago, Wis., and a brother, Michael Green, Dallas, Tex.
Services will be at 9:15 a.m. Monday at the Becker funeral home, 5330 W. Lison av. And at 10 a.m. at St. Robert’s church. Burial will be in Holy Cross cemetery. The body will be at the funeral home after 7 p.m. Saturday.
Remembrance in the Sheboygan Press
Peter J. Schardt
by C.E. Broughton
Note: Charles Elmer Broughton (1873-1956) was editor and publisher of the Sheboygan Press for 39 years.
We have sad news to chronicle this afternoon, the death of the Hon. Peter J Schardt, which occurred in Milwaukee, following an illness of three months’ duration. On January 16, Mr. Schardt was found in his room at his apartment in Washington unconscious and removed to Doctors’ hospital, where an exploratory operation took place.
In a brief editorial it is impossible to recount the events of a busy life and the important position “Peter,” as we knew him, held in the Railway Mail Service.
On November 1, 1948, Mr. Schardt retired as assistant vice-president of the Southern Railway System after 37 years of service. Immediately he entered on full time work as chairman of the Association of American Railroads Committee on Railway Mail Service, a subject in which he was an expert. What he had accomplished through the years made it possible for him to answer the call to a greater service. Because of his organization ablity and his knowledge of mail service at home and abroad he was chosen for the full-time position.
In 1917, he was transferred to the New York division as superintendent to develop the A.E.F. mail service. Later he was assigned to overseas rail service and spent a considerable time during World War I in France. He did a masterly job, and returned to this country with the appreciation of the Postmaster General and the War Department.
When World War II was ended in Germany, Mr. Schardt was selected by the War Department and Postmaster General to go to Germany and rehabilitate the German Reichspost (German civilian postal system) and at the end of his mission was awarded the medal of freedom by General McNarney, military governor U.S. zone of occupation in Germany. The medal of freedom which Brigadier General Schardt received carries this inscription:
“During World War II Mr Schardt was granted a leave of absence by the Southern Railway system to serve with the office of military government for Germany (United States) from June, 1945, to January, 1948, and was subsequently awarded the war department’s medal of freedom for exceptional meritorious achievement which aided the United States in the prosecution of the war against the enemy in continental Europe.”
The citation added that Mr. Schardt displayed personal skill and organizing ability and perseverance in restoring the postal service for the American zone of occupation in Germany and in carrying out necessary quadripartite negotiations for resumption of postal service for the whole of Germany. His outstanding qualifications and indefatigable energy enabled him to overcome overwhelming handicaps and to perform his meritorious duties in an excellent manner.
Few people knew that Mr. Schardt was a brigadier general in World War II. Titles meant nothing to him. Never had he referred to this distinguished honor. Peter was more than a neighbor and a friend. He was a man of the common clay and loved and esteemed by his associates in the railway mail service. He never overlooked an opportunity to serve a friend or to do something for the underprivileged. How well we can testify to this. Whenever he came out to Wisconsin he would look up old friends in Ozankee county and more especially at Saukville, his boyhood home.
Mr Schardt was a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks affiliated with Washington lodge No. 15; the Knights of Columbus, the Society of American Military Engineers and the Railway Mail Association.
He had been honored by the National Association of Postal Supervisors with a life membership. The Wisconsin chapter of the National Postmasters’ association at its convention in Oshkosh in 1942 made him an honorary life member. We admired and loved him. There will never be another Peter J. Schardt. He had so many remarkable traits, and one that endeared him to all was his love and consideration for relatives. What a fine attribute and what a rich heritage in memories for the survivors!
