Bartholomew and Son Insurance agency was founded in 1940 by H.W. Bartholomew.  He purchased The Osborne Agency, a small organization with about 100 policies in the entire agency.  The Osborne Agency was run by Howard Clark, who was managing it for his mother-in-law, Dotha Osborne.  Mr. Clark was a jack of all trades and did everything from selling insurance to practicing as an attorney.

    H.W. Bartholomew put all of his physical and financial recourses into his new endeavourer.  He borrowed money against his life insurance, he took out a second mortgage, and took out as big a loan as the bank would allow, all just to get started.  In 1936, H.W. Bartholomew was appointed Metropolitan Life Insurance Agent.  His record of appointment hangs proudly on our office wall.

In 1945, H.W. Bartholomew moved his business from the First National Bank to a small building across from the McMahan Seed Store.  This building, formerly the City Water Department, no longer stands.  In 1950 another move was made to 163 West Lincolnway, formerly the Vidette Messenger building.  This address is currently occupied by the Napoleon Center.  The new office was small, only about four hundred square feet.  A claims adjuster from one of our original agency companies, Ohio Casualty, occupied one room of the office.  The agency remained at that address for twenty-three years.

    H.W. Bartholomew's only son, H.J. "Buck" Bartholomew, graduated from Valparaiso High School in 1949 and then from Indiana University in 1953.  "Buck" worked at the agency during the summer of 1953 until he joined the Air Force in 1954.  In 1956, Buck was honorably discharged and he went to work at the agency on a full time basis.  The agency had one employee who did all the paper work manually, including the customer billing.

    Safeco Insurance Company had the first direct-bill system of any of our companies.  This allowed us to grow significantly without adding employees to handle customer billing.  When Buck left the Air Force, he sold Safeco door-to-door.  Safeco quickly became the largest agency at the time.  In 1956, the composition of the agency was mostly personal lines with automobile as the biggest seller.

    In the late 1950's, Buck purchased the agency from H.W. and became the new owner.  The business remained a sole proprietorship.  In October of 1973, H.W. Bartholomew retired from the insurance business.

In 1973, the agency moved to its present location at 58 South Napoleon Street - the family home of the Urschels, a successful Valparaiso family.  Originally the second story was an apartment rented to Calvin Tiebert, a life insurance agent.  Around 1982, Bartholomew Insurance needed the extra space and took over the whole building.  They added a conference room and two offices upstairs.

Even today, the building is unique.  This cream-colored building is constructed of concrete and offers a large attic, and a full basement which includes a dark room and storage space.  The front of the building is decorated by multi-colored "rocks".  An umbrella plant, fireplace, and beautiful woodwork greet our guests.  Much of the decor, including the paintings on the walls, were done by Betty M. Bartholomew, Buck's wife.  She left us on January 20, 1988.

In 1977, Jeffrey A. Bartholomew , Buck's son, graduated from Ball State University, Cum Laude.  With a degree in business administration, he began working in the agency.  Thus, the third-generation was added to our family owned business.  Jeff devoted the next several years to selling accounts in personal lines.  He also began working toward the Certified Insurance Counselor designation.  He attained this goal in 1981, the same year his wife, Elizabeth, started working for the agency.

On February 9, 1979, H.W. Bartholomew passed away.  In 1980 the agency incorporated.  H.J. "Buck" Bartholomew became president of the company and Jeff the vice-president and secretary/treasurer.  Gross receipts increased over eight fold in twenty years and the agency achieved a record net profit in 1979.  The agency had grown to the point where they had to start hiring again.  Over the next few years the agency expanded to five full-time and two part-time employees in addition to two agency principals.  Our accounting and rating systems also became automated. 

Elizabeth, a 1977 Ball State graduate, brought management experience to the agency.  Over the years, Elizabeth had managed several major retail store's sales departments.  Liz is the president of Porter County Association of Insurance Women (PCAIW).  She now works in the agency part-time due to the birth of Kyle James Bartholomew in 1985.  Her second son, Brian Robert, was born in 1991.  Liz devoted most of her time to bookkeeping and is a licensed agent.

Jeff received the coveted CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter) designation in 1987.  The conferment ceremonies were held in San Antonio, Texas.  To win the designation, Jeff had to pass ten separate three-hour essay exams dealing with all phases of insurance.  During this time, Jeff turned his attention to commercial lines.  He worked with sales representatives from CNA, one of the country's top life insurance companies to develop the life and related financial services market.  Jeff was also a member of Secura Life's Leaders' Forum and Agent of the Year in 1994.

Paul Sciarra came on board in February, 2001, and is the Agency's Medicare and Long Term Care Specialist. As a member of the Society of Certified Senior Advisors, Paul advises our clients on wealth transfer, long term health care protection and other issues affecting their lives today. Paul also provides the Agency's health and life products for individual families and small employer groups. Paul and his wife Dawn reside in Valparaiso.

We believe strongly in employing competent people and in continuing to grow professionally. Principals and staff attend seminars, institutes, company workshops and meetings, as well as in-house training and functions sponsored by our Trade Association. Professional Insurance Agents (PLA) in order to stay current with changes in our industry.

The year 2008 marked our 68th year in business! As independant agents, representing many fine companies, we strive to be our clients one-stop insurance place and handle their entire account.

Thank you Northwest Indiana for your support!