John Christian Bernhardt, Jr.

John Christian Bernhardt, Jr., of Chunns Cove Road, Asheville, NC died April 8, 2025, at Mission Hospital in Asheville. He was 89 years young.

Born February 6, 1936, in Lenoir, NC, he was son of the late John Christian Bernhardt, Sr., and his wife Jean Alexander Bernhardt. He was also preceded in death by his sister, Nancy Bernhardt Collett, and her husband Dr. James Rountree Collett, by his niece Mary Bernhardt Busko and his beloved partner, Mary Jane Winfrey.

He is survived by his brother, Alex Bernhardt, Sr., and his wife Anne Harper Bernhardt of Lenoir and Blowing Rock. He is also survived by seven nieces and nephews: Jean Collett Van Noppen, Ellen Collett, James Rountree Collett, Jr., Alexander Bernhardt Collett, William Burton Collett, Alex Bernhardt, Jr., Lillian Bernhardt and their spouses. He is also survived by great-nieces and nephews too numerous to count, though he loved them all and they him.

John Bernhardt attended Woodberry Forest School, Davidson, Harvard and Duke, where he attained multiple advanced degrees. He remained chagrined at not winning the Davidson Bible Medal, but his family thinks the numerous accolades he garnered in his long and accomplished life should be more than enough to compensate that single loss. He was the recipient of as many awards and prizes as he had great-nieces and nephews, but would be horrified at their mention. To note just one, he was the inaugural recipient of the RFAA Award for Lifetime Service to U.N.C. Asheville which was thereafter renamed the John Bernhardt Award.

He was on the faculty of the Biology Department at U.N.C. Asheville from 1965 when it was originally Asheville Biltmore College until his retirement in 2001. He taught and advised hundreds of students who he considered his children. His favorite quote was from Chaucer, “and gladly would he learn and gladly teach” and in retirement he acquired a R.N. degree from Asheville Buncombe Technical and Community College and subsequently nursed at Mission Hospital and visited most of the nursing homes in Buncombe County.

An important part of his life’s work was with local non-profits as a volunteer and board member. Beginning in his late 20’s he focused on aging issues and organizations, but was deeply involved with the UNC-Asheville Foundation, the Black Health Expo, MemoryCare, the Alzheimer’s Association, Mountain Geri-Care, the Black Mountain Center Foundation, the Land of Sky Regional Council and the Wild for Life Wildlife: Center for Rehabilitation for Wildlife headed by his beloved friends, Mary Beth Bryman and Susie Wright.

John was a great lover of all animals and most people. Though he never aspired to political office, he would happily swap places now with one or two who might be less troublesome in his current location. His dogs Little Bit and Gyp were the companions of his heart and man’s true best friends. He was a lover and champion of the natural world, a connoisseur of all things chocolate, and staunch proponent of the 100-watt lightbulb. A poet and songwriter, he famously penned his own funeral hymn, the rousing “Move Me Along,” which specifies clapping, stomping and dancing in the pews.

His life will be celebrated on Thursday, May 1, at the Groce Funeral Home, 1401 Patton Avenue, Asheville. The family will receive friends at 10:00 a.m. with a service to follow at 11:00 a.m. in the same location. He will be privately interred at the family plot in Lenoir, NC, at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Bernhardt Furniture Foundation (P.O. Box 740, Lenoir, N.C. 28645); the UNCA Study Abroad Program (UNC Asheville Foundation, CPO 1800, One University Heights, Asheville, N.C. 28804); MemoryCare (100 Far Horizons Road, Asheville, N.C. 28803) or Wild for Life Rehabilitation Center (33 Possum Trot, Asheville, N.C. 28806.)