Robert Martin Nisley

SGT in 603rd Engineer Camouflage Bn : Co B

ASN#33233006

Born 1919 in PA, Died 2008

Artist

County of enlistment: Harrisburg, PA

Other residence(s): Hummelstown, PA

United States Army, European Theatre of Operations

Occupation before the war: teachers (secondary school) and principals

College education before the war: Kutztown Univ. 4 years (formerly Kutztown State Teachers' College)

College education after the war: Temple Univ.

Notes: SGT and Co A per Travel Orders, 23d HQ, 29 August 1945; SGT per 1944 and 1945 newspaper articles; PVT on gravestone

Source: 603rd Camouflage Engineer Roster provided by W. Anderson; Photo of 603rd Company A, 13 May 1945; 603rd reunion mailing list; Company A Roster; photo courtesy Ancestry® and Kutztown University

Bob Nisley was born on October 13, 1919 in Hummelstown, PA, the youngest of seven sons. His father and his two older brothers worked in a chocolate factory.*

He graduated from Hershey High School in 1938 where he took courses in the commercial track, and was termed "clever" in the yearbook. He was a member of the Art Club and the yearbook staff (the yearbook was fittingly named The Choclatier).

He then went on to study at the State Teacher's College in Kutztown (now Kutztown University), graduating in 1942 with a major in art education. The yearbook says of him: "super poster man . . . delights in painting scenery . . . ambition—to paint the West." He was active in numerous organizations in college—sports and arts primarily.

Bob registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, and enlisted on June 9, 1942, immediately following his college graduation. He did his basic training at Fort Meade and additional training in Louisiana and Tennessee. He spent some time in various locations as a company clerk, sign painter, map maker, and drill instructor before being assigned (like other art students in the Northeast) to the 603rd Engineer Camouflage Battalion. He saw service in Europe with the unit during the war; his brother Elmer also served in the war, stationed in the Pacific.

Immediately after returning home from overseas, Bob married Rachael Stoner, a schoolteacher, on July 14, 1945. He was discharged from the Army a few months later, on October 12.

Bob used his GI Bill benefits to earn a master's degree at Temple University, and taught at Sunbury Junior High School from 1947-1949. He then joined the art faculty at Steelton-Highspire High School, where he would teach for 36 years. He and Rachael became the parents of three: Susan, Rachael, and Robert, Jr.

Sadly, Rachael died in 1982; in 1985 Bob married Lois Ludwig.

Bob was a member of the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, the Hershey Area Art Association, and the Hummelstown Area Historical Society. He was a member, elder, and deacon of the Hummelstown United Church of Christ and served on the Hummelstown Borough Council.

He was also an avid fisherman and golfer.

In addition to teaching art, Bob was a talented watercolor artist, producing works for a variety of local organizations and events with a focus on popular locations in the Hershey-Hummelstown area. He did the set design (and undoubtedly the set painting!) for a Christmas play at the Reformed Church in 1948 (his wife was the director). He painted a mural for Steelton-Transpire High School in 1952. In 1961 he won the Hummelstown Bicentennial Emblem Contest, and his winning design was used in all official publicity for the event. He also chaired the pageant committee, designing and building the sets for the event in 1962.

Hummelstown biicentennial medal with winning emblem image, 1962

Hummelstown bicentennial commemorative plate with winning emblem image, 1962

For many years he created a poster for the annual Hummelstown Arts and Crafts Festival. He also exhibited his work in several different venues, and in retirement taught art at the Hershey Museum and other locations. In 1995, he was one of the co-founders of the Hershey Art Association.

A Time for Healing, 1996

In 1996, he was commissioned by Tom Ridge, then Governor of Pennsylvania, to create a painting which became known as "A Time for Healing." The painting memorializes a temporary truce in November, 1944, during which both German and American combat medics treated thousands of casualties on both sides during the Battle of Hürtgen Forest. (Lasting 88 days, it was the longest battle on German ground during World War II. It ended when the Germans launched the effort that became known as the Battle of the Bulge. Pennsylvania was particularly prominent because of the presence in Hürtgen Forest of its 28th Division of the National Guard.)

The plan was to make 1120 numbered prints, each signed by the artist and two of the doctors who were present on that day in 1944 (German Dr. Günter Stüttgen, whose idea the truce was, and American Dr. Bedford Davis). The prints were then sold for $125 each with the sales to benefit the construction of a memorial for Pennsylvania veterans at Indiantown Gap. (The memorial was completed in 2001.)

Some of these prints still come up regularly for sale in auction houses and websites, and at least one has been presented to a military medic unit. A print of Nisley’s painting also hangs in the 1944 Hürtgen Forest Museum in Vossenack, Germany.

After Philip Gerard's book about the Ghost Army (Secret Soldiers: The Story of World War II's Heroic Army of Deception) was released in 2002, Bob achieved some local fame speaking about the Ghost Army at various local events, including one at the Eisenhower National Historic Site in 2003.

Bob died on June 28, 2008 at his home in Hummelstown, and was buried with military honors at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Annville, PA. The digital guest book attached to his obituary is full of tributes from former students who cherished both art and life lessons learned in their classes with "Mr. Nisley."

After his death, funds were raised for a scholarship in his honor, the Robert M. Nisley Scholarship. It is given each year by the Hummelstown Arts Festival to a Lower Dauphin High School senior who will study art or music in college.

In 2018, a retrospective show of his work, including sketches, prints and watercolors, was held at the Hummelstown Area Historical Society.

*The chocolate factory was likely the famous one located in nearby Hershey, PA.