[3][4] His grandfather, Wallace Barnes, was born in 1827 and worked at his Bristol family store as a druggist and later as a clock-maker for several firms.

When one firm went bankrupt, they offered the elder Barnes his back wages in the form of hoop skirt wire.

[3] As a teenager, Barnes became interested in flying and joined the U.S. Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet in World War II.

[5] Barnes graduated Phi Beta Kappa, cum laude, from Williams College in 1949 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics, and served as his class's vice president.

William R. Fenoglio became the next CEO that year, the first time an executive from outside the Barnes family ever held such a position.

[11][12] After retiring as CEO, Barnes continued to serve as chairman until he left the board due to age limitations in 1996.

[8] During this time, he worked on court reform and environmental issues, and was unanimously elected Senate Minority Leader in November 1968.

On Wednesday, April 23, the Republicans began banging their shoes on their desks in protest after the Democratic majority emerged from a private caucus several hours late, mirroring Nikita Khrushchev's shoe-banging incident at the United Nations in 1960.

"[16] The culmination of this symbolic protest was on Tuesday, May 6, 1969, when the Republicans placed several hundred pairs of shoes on the sidewalk in front of the state capitol.

[8] He has been on the board of trustees at the Yale–New Haven Hospital, the CT Policy and Economic Council, and the Family Center.

He is a Life Member and was on the board of regents of the University of Hartford, where he served as chair from 1991 to 1993, from which he received an honorary degree in 1988.

In 1984, he met fellow director Barbara Hackman Franklin and invited her to a corporate function; the two were married two years later.

In 1967, the Boys Club of America gave Barnes the "Keystone Award", which recognizes leadership and service.