Born in Baltimore, Maryland; his father and maternal grandparents were German immigrants.

[1] Garmatz attended the public schools, including the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute.

From the Eighty-ninth through the Ninety-second Congresses, Garmatz served as chairman of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries.

[6][7] He was not a candidate for reelection in 1972 to the Ninety-third Congress, and became employed by the International Organization of Masters, Mates, and Pilots Union.

In 1978, a federal bribery conspiracy case against Garmatz was dismissed at the urging of Justice Department officials who said they had discovered that their key witness had lied to a grand jury and forged documents.