1976 - Henry M. Barr
GRINDSTONE AWARD
1976

 

Henry M.
Barr
Though he was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, the 1976 Grindstone Award winner, Henry Barr, is a true Berean in every sense of the word.

As a child, Henry, with his mother and two sisters, came to live at the Berea Methodist Children's Home in 1918, where his mother assumed a staff position. He attended the Berea schools and graduated from Baldwin Wallace College in 1937.

Henry's photography career started in World War 11, where he was an Air Force combat photographer. Returning to Berea in 1946, he opened his first studio on Front Street, near Schneider's Drug Store.

His business prospered through his own industry and hard work, and, in 1958, he moved his company to a modern studio and photography plant on North Rocky River Drive, specializing in pictures of school children. In 1970, he started Ohio Book Fairs to provide primary school pupils with suitable, age level reading matter at a reasonable price.

Henry is past president of the Berea City Council, on which he served for 4 years, and past president and a charter member of Berea Rotary Club. He was a trustee of the Southwest YMCA and of the Methodist Children's Home. In the latter connection, Henry is the second former resident of the Children's Home to have been named a trustee of that institution, as well as a Grindstone Award winner.

He is probably best known for his long and distinguished service on the Berea District School Board, which he served for twenty years, eight as president. During much of this time Berea was experiencing its explosive WW 11 growth. Henry's cool business judgment and strong leadership brought orderly progress and fiscal responsibility to the enormous task of building 16 schools in an eight year period. That Berea is noted for its fine school system is due, in no small measure, to Henry Barr's guiding hand.

In 1966, he was named Baldwin-Wallace Alumnus of the Year, and, a year later, Berea's American Legion Citizen of the Year.

Henry is married to Peggy, and they have five children.
Presented March 22, 1977 Holiday Inn, Strongsville, Ohio