Staebler had German ancestry. He was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and graduated from Ann Arbor High School in 1922. He received a B.A. from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1926. He served on the staff of the Office of Price Administration, 1942–1943, and in the United States Navy, 1943–1945. He was chairman, of the Michigan state Democratic central committee, 1950–1961 and a member of the Democratic National Committee, 1961–1964 and 1965–1968. He was a visiting professor at the University of Massachusetts in 1962. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Michigan in 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, and 1968.