Obituary: Arnold Van Hoven Bernhard, 83

From Harding Funeral Home

Arnold Van Hoven Bernhard, 83, of Westport, CT, beloved husband of Dianne Jones Bernhard, passed away on March 07, 2018. Van was a longtime resident of Westport, Connecticut, a sculptor and pastel artist, philanthropist, financial analyst, and ecologist. He was the son of the late Arnold Bernhard and Janet Kinghorn Bernhard. Arnold Bernhard was the founder of Value Line Investment Survey.

Van was an alumnus of the Choate School, was enrolled in the ROTC and graduated as a biology major from Colby College of the class of 1957. Afterward, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the United States Air Force and served his active duty at Lakenheath, Suffolk, England. After his military service, Van worked at Value Line and was in the forefront of computerizing the company and family holding company, Arnold Bernhard & Co., Inc. In the 1960's he started Printing Services, Inc., a subsidiary, to computerize mailing lists and other printing services, later becoming Vice President of Value Line Securities as a securities analyst and served on the Board of Directors of both Value Line and Arnold Bernhard & Co., Inc. until 1995.

A passionate entrepreneur, Van was a founder of Hummingbird Farms, the hydroponic tomato farm in Maryland, a partner in Bernhard Link Theatrical Productions, a fashion and event production company in New York City, a partner in Bernhard Brown, a sound and light company in Texas, as well as a partner in Bernhard Thomas, a state of the art wall panel manufacturer in Connecticut.

In 1997, he donated to Quinnipiac University the Arnold Bernhard Library, naming it after his father, and endowed a professorship in economics and directorship for special education. At Colby College, he created and endowed the Arnold Bernhard professorship in Arts & Humanities, in honor of his father as well. He established the Draupner Ring Fund for teaching in Biology at Tufts University. He served on the Board of Trustees at the University of Bridgeport and was a Trustee Emeritus at Quinnipiac University. He was the lead donor in the realization of creating Coyle Gymnasium and a Science wing at Greens Farms Academy.

A practicing fine artist and staunch supporter of the arts, Van was a founder and producer of Bernhard Ballet. He had a one-man retrospective of his art at the Newington Cropsey Foundation in 2006 and was awarded Man of the Year in 2007. Van was a member of the University Club, the Explorers Club, the Pastel Society of America, the Portrait Society of America and The National Arts Club. He was a charter member of the Fairfield County Hunt Club and Aspetuck Valley Country Club. He was an avid historian and researcher of Viking history and Nordic mythology.

Van spent much of his time on Hummingbird Cay, his private island in the Exumas, Bahamas, where he maintained a tropical ecology field station for research, experiments, and study for Tufts University. At Christopher Newport University a credited study is offered yearly in Island Biology and Experimental Design at Hummingbird Cay. Van sponsored bonefish, stingray and lionfish research conducted by The Island School and Cape Eleuthera Institute on Hummingbird Cay. In partnership with Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University, he originated a program and established a hatchery to restore queen conch populations to the Bahamas. Van fostered scientific research and coauthored published scientific papers on island ecology and marine habitats and left an indelible mark on countless students, professors, and visitors to Hummingbird Cay.

Van is survived by Dianne, his wife of 27 years, and children Angela Bernhard Thomas, her husband Harold of Redding, CT, Jeffrey Barbee Bernhard of Weston, CT, and Leon, Nicaragua, Tiffany Hope Charles, her husband Shayne Anderson of Santa Monica, CA. His daughters from his previous marriage to Diane Ekholm Valante, Edith Bernhard van Harwegen den Breems of Westport, CT, and Ingrid Bernhard Gordon, her husband Richard of Westport, CT. He was a doting Papaw to his beloved grandchildren; Forrest, Isabelle, Lars and his wife Susan, Richie, Martin, Nielsen, Tyler, Audrey, and great-grandson Benjamin. He is survived by his twin sister Jean Bernhard Buttner, her children Marianne Buttner Asher and her husband David, their children Innes and Iona, Janet Buttner Eakman and her husband Gary, their children Nate and Allison, and Raluca Buttner, wife of Edgar "Ned" Buttner (predeceased) and their children Edgar, Grette and Mika. His first wife, Susan Grondona Dolge of New Canaan, CT. A loving extended family and a great number of wonderful friends and acquaintances.

A memorial service, with military honors, is to be announced at a later date by the family.

Contributions in memory of Van may be made to the Dianne and Van Bernhard Fund for research in the field of metabolic therapies for cancer at the George W. Yu Foundation for Nutrition and Health into the. www.Yufoundation.org.

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