When C. Robert Bartholomew, owner of Bartholomew Funeral Home located on Monroe Street in Valparaiso, decided it was time to retire after decades of running the longest serving funeral home in the city and pass the business on to the next generation, longtime friend and colleague Michael Newhard was there to take the reins. Newhard, who started Newhard Funeral Home in Westville back in 1989, had worked closely with Bartholomew for years and was ready to continue the Bartholomew legacy.
“I had worked with Robert [Bartholomew] for over five years when I purchased the business from him in August of 1997,” Newhard said. “He was looking to take a step back and I had been working for him for so long, he trusted me to continue the funeral home’s work in the community.”
Newhard, who moved to Valparaiso when he was in second grade and has always considered the city to be his hometown, always had an interest in the medical field. When taking a filler course at Indiana University called Career Explorations, a late night at the library working on an assignment led him to a book about funeral directing.
“It caught my eye and I wondered what it would take to get into that field,” Newhard said. “I looked into it and found a school up in Des Plaines that I ended up applying to. After I was accepted, I was off to Chicago for mortuary school, where I did a year of general studies, a year of mortuary school, and a year’s internship in Indiana at a funeral home.”
While he always had an interest in the medical field, it was Newhard’s own connection to loss that guided him in his early career. Newhard’s older sister died in a car accident when he was younger, a loss that stuck with him as he made his way through mortuary school and his early years of funeral directing.
“I had been in that difficult spot just a few years prior,” Newhard said. “So, this field not only fulfilled that interest in science, but also gave me that important human interaction. It feels good to help people and be there for them. It makes the long hours we sometimes endure worth it.”
The life of a funeral director is, to say the least, a busy one. Every day is different than the last and can require a director and his staff to fill multiple roles at any given point.
“I can get up in the morning and have a list of everything I need to accomplish at work that day, and then one phone call can change everything,” Newhard said. “It’s the death call, so someone has passed away at home and we have pick up and prepare the body and meet with the family. Of course, when you meet with the family, it’s not the last time we’ll be speaking with them. We are in constant communication making sure everything is planned and runs smoothly for them and their loved one who has passed.’
As Newhard continues to serve his hometown, his sons, Kyle and Christopher, have joined the family business. Kyle began working full-time at Bartholomew back in 2019, and Christopher, works part-time as he attends college. Kyle, who graduated from Ball State University in 2017 with a Business Administration degree, was working in Indianapolis for a company called RCI for about a year before realizing it was time to come home.
“I got this feeling that I was almost having too much fun,” Kyle said with a laugh. “I got the feeling it was time to come back home. So when I was offered the opportunity to handle the business side of Bartholomew, I said, ‘Let’s do it,’ and moved back home.”
Much like his father, Kyle has seen firsthand how there is no such thing as a typical day at Bartholomew.
“I grew up around funeral homes and this business, but it has definitely been a challenge at times seeing how each day is different and how each day can surprise you,” he said. “There are weeks when we may be working 40 hours, but then the next week comes and we’ve worked almost 70 hours, depending on what is going on.”
“Every family has different needs; there’s no one, standard way to handle every family,” Kyle continued. “But all of us work really well together; we synergize and are able to meet a family’s needs together.”
For the Newhards, that’s what this business is all about: family. Not only working as a family, but also working for other families going through a dark, sorrowful time in their lives, makes the long hours worth it.
“We’re located right by Valpo’s downtown area, so when I look around, I see that we are a part of this community and have been for a long time,” Newhard said. “Even though I serve during a person’s saddest parts of their lives, I feel like I’m a part of things here, I feel like I’m here to help, and I’m proud of that.”
When the Newhards do have that precious free time, in a normal era, they can be found trying new restaurants, supporting local businesses, and at professional sporting events cheering on the Pacers and the Colts especially.
“It’s also really important for me to go back to my roots and go to a Valparaiso High School football or basketball game,” Newhard said. “Really any chance we get to just spend time as a family.”
For more information about Bartholomew Funeral Home, visit their site at https://www.bartholomewnewhard.com/.
