Robert Spencer Danstedt

SGT in 603rd Engineer Camouflage Bn : Co B

ASN#31083221 Casualty: Wounded

Born 1915 in MA, Died 2005

Artist

County of residence at enlistment: Worcester County, MA

Other residence(s): Worcester, MA; Bridgewater, MA; Maynard, MA; Concord, MA

United States Army, European Theatre of Operations

Occupation before the war: general industry clerks

College education before the war: Worcester Art Museum School; Boston Museum School; 4 years total

College education after the war: Clark University, Bridgewater State College

Notes: Purple Heart; GO #34, HQ SP TRS, 12th A Gp, 4 Apr 45. Enemy Action, 13 Mar 45. Pickard, Germany. Also Co D; rank changed from PVT to SGT per gravestone

Source: 603rd Camouflage Engineer Roster provided by W. Anderson; Awards and Decorations; Bernie Mason Company D Roster; photo courtesy Worcester High School of Commerce and Ancestry®

Robert Danstedt was born on February 6, 1915 in Worcester, MA, the younger of two children. Both of his parents had been born in Sweden; his father worked as a machinist in a steel mill.

Robert graduated from Grafton Street Junior High and from Worcester High School of Commerce in 1933. His high school yearbook reported that he had "the makings of a fine artist," and he won a scholarship to study art in college. He attended Worcester Art Museum School for a year, and then won a scholarship to the Boston Museum School, where he studied for at least three years.

Robert registered for the draft on October 16, 1940. The census that year showed him working in the area of planning for an abrasives manufacturer. He enlisted on August 29, 1942, at which time his occupation was listed in the category of "general industry clerk." Like many other artists in the Northeast, Robert was assigned to the 603rd Engineer Camouflage Battalion, and saw service in Europe during the war.

He was discharged on September 22, 1945 with the rank of SGT and returned home to Worcester, marrying Lucille Rice, also an artist, in 1945. Their only child, Karen, was born a year or two later.

Robert used his GI Bill benefits to pursue further study. He attended Clark University in Worcester, while he taught art in the Worcester public schools. The family relocated to Bridgewater, MA in 1948 when he was offered a job as the town's only art teacher. Robert earned a graduate degree from Bridgewater State College (possibly in art education) in 1952. He continued to teach art, serving as the Art Supervisor for the Bridgewater school system, and in 1960 became the Director of Art at the new Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School, a position he held for 20 years until his retirement.

His wife, Lucille, worked as a fashion illustrator and was also an award-winning artist. Their daughter, Karen, would go on to teach art at the Liberty School in Braintree, MA for 34 years.

Robert also served as a Trustee of the Bridgewater Public Library for at least four years during the 1960s.

Lucille died in 1989; sometime after that Robert moved to Maynard, MA, probably to be closer to his daughter who lived in Concord, MA. He died on August 3, 2005 in Concord, and is buried at All Faiths Cemetery in Worcester, MA.