It’s one thing to simply help out the community, but it’s another thing to do so when people are in need of it. Bartholomew Funeral Home is all about turning a dismal situation into an experience that rekindles positive memories and honors a deceased loved one the right way.
Bartholomew Funeral Home has been a part of the Valparaiso community since 1892, when it first started getting into funeral service. The business has always been a family-owned operation.
Kyle Newhard, office manager at Bartholomew Funeral Home, believes being a family business that every customer can count on for their funeral service has helped them stay around for such a long time.
“We try to keep that tradition alive as much as possible,” Newhard said. “Our biggest thing is being able to treat the people we take care of as family. There’s a lot of people who always say treat others as you’d like to be treated. That’s a core principle that we like to follow here.”
According to Newhard, the current staff has more than 100 years of combined funeral service at Bartholomew Funeral Home. With a staff that has deep roots in the business, they also know from first-hand experience what it’s like to lose a loved one and how to utilize funeral services once that happens.
“Everybody who works here has experienced some sort of personal loss in their life,” Newhard said. “For us to be able to serve the community is an absolute honor. We wouldn’t be here if this wasn’t something we wanted to do. We want to be there to help others in what might be one of, if not the most, difficult time in their lives.”
Being a part of the Valparaiso community for more than 100 years, Bartholomew Funeral Home has developed a reputation as one of the most reliable funeral services in the area as well. The business also has a location in Westville, called Newhard Funeral Home.
While sometimes it can get extremely busy, Newhard emphasizes the importance of treating each individual customer like they’re the most important person they will care for. They want to ensure that each service can go the way close friends and family of the deceased individual had planned.
“We have some of our own procedures in place for how to approach every situation,” Newhard said. “One thing that’s big for us is to treat every deceased person we take care of like that’s the only person we have all week, month or even year. Everybody deserves the utmost attention and care that you can give them in this field of work. That’s how our team always looks at it. Every person needs to be taken care of to the best of our ability.”
On top of catering to their customers, there are a plethora of ways that Bartholomew Funeral Home makes its presence felt throughout the community.
“We’re always here for any questions that the community might have,” Newhard said. “We also help promote some fraternal community organizations to help with events and memberships we’ve worked with such as the Daughters of the American Revolution. We’ve done work at local summits and cemeteries. We also assist with Memorial Day celebrations in the community, the Popcorn Festival, and many other events. We know that as a funeral home, some people might see us and naturally want to stay away. We want everyone in the community to know that we’re active in helping out through many ways outside of our workplace as well.“
Newhard is grateful for the long-term success of Bartholomew Funeral Home. He hopes the team can continue making a positive impact in Northwest Indiana for the foreseeable future.
For more information on Bartholomew Funeral Home, you can visit its website.