Charles Eddie Bartlett, 88, of Union City passed away Sunday, June 8, 2025 at Drews Place II in Coldwater under hospice care.
A funeral celebrating the life of Charles will take place at 12:00 p.m. Monday, June 23, 2025 at Lighthouse Funeral & Cremation, 1276 Tate Trail, Union City, MI with Pastor John Blaskie officiating. Interment will follow at Riverside Cemetery in Union City.
A visitation will be held prior to the service beginning at 10:00 a.m., also Monday at Lighthouse in Union City.
Charles was born March 13, 1937 to Lynn Henry and Erma May (Christiansen) Bartlett, in Petoskey, Michigan. He attended Union City High School and graduated in with the Class of 1955. After high school, Charles earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from Albion College.
After college Charles volunteered in the United States Army from 1960 to 1962 where he gave instructions in chemical warfare. Afterwards, he worked at Valspar in Fort Wayne, Indiana as a coating chemist. He retired in December 2000 after 35 years.
Charles was always known for his good sense of humor, being a great storyteller, and had the “Can Do Attitude”. He always lived an active lifestyle. He had biked the “Hilly Hundred” in Brown County, Indiana, hiked the Continental Divide, and traveled to the Colorado River to raft through the Grand Canyon twice. He enjoyed reading and made two trips to the Gettysburg battlefields with his niece Holly and her husband John.
He had an admiration for 1928-1931 Model A Fords. He enjoyed going to the Gilmore Car Museum, especially the Model A Ford Museum that is located there. He was a member of the Model A Restorer’s Club, The Model A Ford Foundation and the Early V8 Club of America.
Charles was an avid photographer and took many pictures of the trips he had been on, plus all the cars at the car shows he attended.
Charles was survived by his nieces, Holly (John) Blaskie of Sherwood, Heather (Randy) Carter of Athens; his great nephews Jordan (Brianna) Green, Cody Carter; his cousins, Lee Bartlett of Dayton, OH and Cheryl Proctor of Sherwood. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Callie Bartlett of Union City and her children; Shane (Melissa) Hodge of North Carolina, David (Samantha) Hodge of Jenison, and Janice Gauss of Allendale.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Lynn and Erma Bartlett, his brother, Joel Bartlett and his niece, Melanie Bartlett.
Memorial contributions may be directed to the Model A Ford Foundation, which maintains the Model A Museum at the Gilmore Car Museum, 6865 W. Hickory Road, Hickory Corners, MI 49060 or you can download a Memorial Fund Form at https://www.maffi.org/WSContent/Download/MAFFIMemorialFund.pdf
Comments