Bob Artley, 'Memories of a Former Kid' artist and longtime Daily Globe cartoonist, dies

• Artley

Artley

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — Former Daily Globe cartoonist Bob Artley died Friday at a care facility in Akron, Ohio. He was 94 years old.

Artley began working for the Daily Globe in 1971. He provided political cartoons for the newspaper on an almost-daily basis, and also did illustrations for advertisements. One of his most popular editorial features was a series of cartoons based on his memories of growing up on a farm near Hampton, Iowa.

“About once a week, as relief from the world and politics and so forth, I started doing this ‘Memories of a Former Kid,’” recalled Artley in a 2007 feature story in the Daily Globe marking his 90th birthday. “I think, actually, what happened was they had a special (section) they’d put out once in a while, a farm special, and I did some drawings that were like ‘Memories of a Former Kid,” and we called it that in this one issue, and that’s where the name started. Then I started doing a weekly cartoon to replace the editorial cartoon.”

“Memories of a Former Kid” proved so popular that the first compilation of those cartoons was issued in 1978, and subsequent collections followed, including titles such as “Bob Artley’s Cowtoons: Living with Cows,” “Country School Days: From the Memories of a Former Kid,” “Christmas on the Farm,” and most recently, “Memories of a Farm Kitchen.”

Artley continued to work for the Daily Globe until 1986, although he and first wife, Ginny, had moved back to his home territory of Hampton, Iowa, in 1981. In addition to his cartoon collections, Artley also authored a nonfiction work, “Ginny: A Love Remembered,” based on the couple’s relationship and her struggles with Alzheimer’s disease. She died in 1993.

Artley and second wife Margaret, whose first husband had also died of Alzheimer’s disease, were married in 1995. The Artleys divided their time between Hampton and their winter home in Florida until health concerns made it difficult to go back and forth. More recently, they moved to Akron to be close to the support system of her children.

In 2007, the Artley family donated a large collection of cartoons to Minnesota West Community and Technical College, Worthington campus, where they are being preserved and displayed.

Artley’s survivors include wife Margaret; and three children, Rob, Steve and Joni.

Funeral arrangements are still pending, according to son Rob, and service information will be in a forthcoming issue of the Daily Globe. The Artleys’ address in Akron is 87 Wilpark Drive, Akron 44312-3588.

Tags: news, worthington