Peter J. Camiel (January 30, 1910 – January 31, 1991) 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, stagger ...

for the 3rd district from 1953 to 1964.

Career

Camiel started his political career as a ward leader in Philadelphia. He became a millionaire running a wholesale beer distribution business. He served as Chairman of the Philadelphia Democratic Party from 1969 to 1976, when he lost a power struggle with

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Frank Rizzo Francis Lazarro Rizzo (October 23, 1920 – July 16, 1991) was an American police officer and politician. He served as commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) from 1967 to 1971 and mayor of Philadelphia from 1972 to 1980. He wa ...

. Camiel had helped get Rizzo elected in 1971 but they became bitter rivals. Camiel became leader of the 5th ward in Philadelphia, known as Center City, and served in that capacity for over 40 years. Camiel was nominated to the

Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) is an agency created in 1937 to construct, finance, operate, and maintain the Pennsylvania Turnpike (both the mainline and the Northeast Extension). The commission consists of five members. Four memb ...

by Governor Milton Shapp in 1975. In 1980, he and three other defendants, including

Vince Fumo Vincent Joseph Fumo (born May 8, 1943) is an American politician, lawyer, and businessman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A Democrat, he represented a South Philadelphia district in the Pennsylvania Senate from 1978 to 2008. On March 16, 2009, ...

and Thomas Nolan, were convicted of placing "ghost workers" on state payroll. The charges were thrown out in August 1981. He was suspended from the Turnpike Commission as a result of the indictment but returned in December 1981. He was renominated for a four-year term by Governor Bob Casey Sr. in 1987. He served on the commission until his death in 1991. Peter J Camiel died of lung cancer on January 31, 1991, at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and is interred at Wetherills Cemetery in

Phoenixville, Pennsylvania Phoenixville is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia at the junction of French Creek (Schuylkill River tributary), French Creek an ...

Legacy

rest area A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, Limited-access road, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary roads. Other names ...

on the

Pennsylvania Turnpike The Pennsylvania Turnpike, sometimes shortened to Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike, is a controlled-access toll road which is operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in Pennsylvania. It runs for across the southern part of the st ...

is named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Camiel, Peter 1910 births 1991 deaths Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators Deaths from lung cancer in Pennsylvania 20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly