Barber National Institute is honored to announce William (Bill) Power as the 2024 Person of the Year; we will recognize Bill at this year’s Shillelagh Golf Tournament at Whispering Woods. 

Bill’s father Richard and Joe Barber (brother of Gertrude Barber) first met at Notre Dame University in the 1930s. 

After honorable discharge from WWII, Richard and his wife Maureen, along with their children Helena, Bridget and baby William on the way, relocated to Erie from Limerick, Ireland and reconnected with the Barber family.  

The Barber Center, as it was known then, was but a year old.  Bill’s dad volunteered and worked at the Erie School District as a bus driver who was assigned to drive kids to and from the Barber Center summer camp. The Barber Center’s summer kids' program was the summer camp experience for Bill and his seven sisters; he loved going each summer.  

Bill and his wife Carolyn have been investing in Erie for decades through real estate property management and the establishment of several family businesses. Bill says that buying and selling property is their passion. Bill retired in 2009 from the County of Erie’s Building and Maintenance Department as a Chief Engineer. 

Bill and Carolyn are parents to Richard, senior manager in the finance department at Comcast NBC Universal, Father James, pastor at St. Joseph Parish and Caroline, a front office coordinator at Regional Kidney Disease Center. 

Bill’s wife Carolyn is one of three family owners of Erie Restoration Inc. 

Bill and Carolyn have volunteered and supported many Barber National Institute events over the years including decades of Christmas Balls, Shillelagh Golf Tournaments and Barber Beast on the Bay.