Dr. Charles Harvey Schisler

Dr. Charles Harvey Schisler, resident of Atlanta, Georgia, and Professor Emeritus of Emory University died on June 22, 2011, from malignant melanoma at age 79. He was the son of the late Lloyd C. and Mabel I. (Silfies) Schisler. He was graduated from Northampton High School in 1949. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music from West Chester University and a Master’s degree in choral conducting under Elaine Brown from Temple University. From 1956-58 he studied organ and conducting with Karl Richter, noted Bach interpreter, at the Munich state academy and sang in the Munich Bach Choir. His Ph.D. is from the Indiana University School of Music, Bloomington, Indiana. He was organist-choir director at Swarthmore Methodist Church from 1958-71 where he brought about the installation of a Casavant pipe organ. He was on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. In 1969 he joined the faculty of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, where he initiated the Summer Session. In 1975 he became Dean of the College until 1988 when he became Professor of Music at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, until his final retirement in June 2010. Dr. Schisler was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Westminster in 1988. He received the Crystal Apple Award for excellence in teaching from Emory University in 1999. In 2011 he received the Williamson Medal from the Alumni Association of Westminster Choir College in recognition of his unrelenting pursuit of excellence in all areas of the college’s academic and musical life. He was a life-long member of Zion Lutheran Church, Northampton, and an active member of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Atlanta where he chaired the organ committee for the installation of a new Letourneau organ. He was a member of the New York Wagner Society and attended the Bayreuth Festival regularly since 1954. He was a guarantor of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem and a member of the Pennsylvania German Society. He maintained a summer home at Blue Heron Lake in the Poconos where he spent vacations since he was born. He has always had a close and ongoing relationship with Munich and his German friends from student days. His 75th birthday was celebrated in Munich with friends and relatives from both sides of the Atlantic. Part of the festivities included a ride around Munich in a decorated antique streetcar with a Bierfest atmosphere. Survivors: Sister Anna Jane, wife of Dr. Warren Miller, Bethlehem; nephews, Dr. William Miller and wife Deborah of Allentown and Andrew Miller of Bethlehem; niece, Marianna Werley of Bethlehem. Interment will be at the convenience of the family from the Schisler Funeral Home and at the Fairview Cemetery, Northampton. A memorial service will be held at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, 731 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, on Sunday, July 10, 2011, at 2:00 P.M. Contributions may be made to the Dr. Charles H. Schisler Endowed Scholarship Fund of Westminster Choir College of Rider University, 101 Walnut Lane, Princeton, NJ 08540. A. S. Turner & Sons


Funeral Home:
A. S. Turner & Sons
2773 North Decatur Road
Decatur, GA
30033