Born in
Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, Steinmetz served in the
United States Army Air Forces during
World War II. Steinmetz then graduated from the
University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1949 and received his law degree from the
University of Wisconsin Law School in 1951. Steinmetz was a claims attorney before his service in government. Between 1958 and 1966, he worked as an assistant Milwaukee city attorney, an assistant district attorney in Milwaukee County, and an assistant Wisconsin Attorney General. In 1964, he was the preferred candidate of Democratic leaders, including Governor
John W. Reynolds, Jr., to replace deceased
Milwaukee County District Attorney William McCauley, but the post went to
Hugh O'Connell. He was a Wisconsin county judge and later a
Wisconsin Circuit Court judge for Milwaukee County after the county courts were combined into the circuit courts. He was also a teacher at the Wisconsin Judicial College. He was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court
in 1980 and re-elected
in 1990. He died on August 31, 2013, in Milwaukee. ==Notes==