Statler: The Man and the Machine

Paul Statler was born on a farm in southeast Missouri to farmer-turned-minister parents. Due to his interest in electronics, by age sixteen he was already running his own business of fixing radios and televisions for neighbors and friends.

The family moved to Cardwell, Missouri when Paul’s father was assigned the Methodist church there. Paul setup a new repair shop and while doing business at the local bank, was smitten by one of the tellers.

Paul and Mildred were married and soon after enlisted in the Air Force. The training he received furthered his knowledge of the quickly ever-changing field of electronics. Military life also uprooted Paul and Mildred from their small-town lives and moved them

to places on the other side of the globe.

After the military, Paul worked for RCA and then was hired by the VA hospital system, eventually ending up in Columbia, Missouri as a Bio-Medical supervisor.

While attending the Missouri State Fair in 1988, Paul and Mildred saw their first hand-guided quilting machine. The gears started turning in Paul’s head about how a computer could be used to control the sewing and it wasn’t long before a prototype was built. Through many design changes, the help of many talented people, and the help of God’s direction and provision, the Statler

Stitcher has become the industry’s leading longarm quilting machine.

This is the Statler story.