CALDWELL COUNTY, NC - OBITUARIES - John Christian Bernhardt Sr., 29 May 2003 ----¤¤¤¤---- Hickory Daily Record Saturday, May 31, 2003 JOHN C. BERNHARDT Sr. LENOIR — John Christian Bernhardt Sr., 96, died Thursday, May 29, 2003, at Homewood in Lenoir. He was born Oct. 11, 1906, in Lenoir, the son of John Matthias and Ellen Harper Bernhardt. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 63 years, Jean Thornwell Alexander Bernhardt, brothers, James Douglas and George Harper, and a sister Del (Mrs. T. Henry) Wilson. Surviving are his three children, Nancy Thornwell Bernhardt and husband, Dr. James Rountree Collett, of Morganton, John Christian Bernhardt Jr. of Asheville, and George Alexander Bernhardt Sr. and wife, Anne Harper Bernhardt, of Lenoir. Also surviving are eight grandchildren, Jean Thornwell Collett VanNoppen of Morganton, Ellen Harper Collett of Los Angeles, James Rountree Collett Jr. of Morganton, Alexander Bernhardt Collett of Los Angeles, William Burton Collett of Morganton, George Alexander Bernhardt Jr. of Hickory, Lillian Harper Bernhardt Sutcliffe of Gold Hill, Colo., Mary McPherson Bernhardt Busko of Atlanta, and 10 great-grandchildren. His grandfather, Maj. G.W.F. Harper, fought in the Civil War and founded the bank of Lenoir and the Pioneer Library. His father, John Matthias, worked with homesteaders and Indians in Oregon as it was being settled, built the Green Park Hotel in Blowing Rock and roads to the rock, then returned to Lenoir to start in 1889 what has become the oldest furniture company in North Carolina. The three generations lived together, their shared insights spanning almost 170 years. When the first automobile came to Lenoir, John Christian drove it over Staircase Mountain in reverse since Model T fuel ran by gravity from the back seat. At 12, he helped his brother George’s logging crew on Yellow Creek in Swain County, and on graduation from Davidson College, he ran a logging camp located directly under what is now the dam at Fontana. At George’s death in 1946, he became head of the company and developed it over his 75 years there to touch over 2,000 families before his son, daughter-in-law and three grandsons took charge. The logo he chose as fitting the company’s values was a chair with the workers as its center. Throughout his life he helped create services his community needed, among others, Caldwell Memorial Hospital, the Lenoir Bi-Racial Committee, Koinonea Retirement Center, Town and Country housing development, Caldwell County Hospice, Caldwell Halfway House, the Jesse Rankin historic house, parks and recreation areas. Before there was the concept of Habitat For Humanity, when an employee’s house burned down, he and his men built a new home in one day. In the 1940s, he and his brother George led a drive to build the American Legion center in West End for the black community to come together. He was a lifelong member, elder and trustee of First Presbyterian Church and a leader in his church, Davidson College, First Union National Bank, the Southern Furniture Manufacturers Association, and others. Among his awards were the Davidson College Bible Medal and the Alumni Service Medal, an award from the NAACP, the L.A. Dysart Award as Lenoir Man of the Year, the James T. Ryan Distinguished Service Award from the SFMA, the first ever Johnson Wax Centennial Award, and the New York City award from the Brotherhood of Christians and Jews. His business was the first in his area to desegregate. With an artist’s eye, he designed several homes and oversaw furniture design for three-quarters of a century. A student of literature and history, he traveled throughout the world and had a wide circle of friends abroad. At 88, he went down the Amazon and traveled through Africa at age 90. He loved people at all levels, disliked personal display, believed gifts should be anonymous. For most of his life, he was identifiable by contributions from "A Friend" and driving a rusty old Jeep. When he reached age 65, to avoid being old, he bought a white Corvette, and again at 75, 85, and 90, driving it until he suffered a stroke at age 92. Unable to see or enjoy conversation with others, he read over 400 books on tape in his last years to fill his active mind. He was blessed in his declining years by the loving and constant care he received from his home caregivers and Hospice. A memorial service will be held at the First Presbyterian Church in Lenoir at 11 a.m. today, Saturday, May 31. The family received friends from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, May 30, at Homewood, the family’s beloved home on Woodside Place. Instead of flowers, the family requests that gifts be given to either Caldwell House, 951 Kenham Place, SW, Lenoir, N.C. 28645 or First Presbyterian Church, 1002 Kirkwood NW, Lenoir, N.C. 28645. ___________________________________________________________________ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Hickory Daily Record http://www.hickoryrecord.com/ ___________________________________________________________________