For his lifelong devotion to the betterment of the Greater Cincinnati community, John F. Barrett, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Western & Southern Financial Group, was today presented with The Salvation Army’s William Booth Award.
Barrett was recognized by The Salvation Army in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky during the organization’s 62nd Annual Civic Luncheon at the Hyatt Regency in Cincinnati.
The award is named for the founder of The Salvation Army, William Booth, and is one of the highest honors conferred upon an individual by The Salvation Army. Nominees are chosen based on dedication to The Salvation Army’s goals of service to mankind, service to the community and humanitarian effort.
In his acceptance remarks, Barrett explained that the award is especially meaningful to him because his late father, Dr. Charles M. Barrett, also received the award. Dr. Barrett was both a pioneering radiologist dedicated to fighting cancer and the president and CEO of Western & Southern. “He was such a huge influence in my life and in the lives of so many. I couldn’t be more proud to follow in his footsteps.”
Western & Southern has a long history of support for The Salvation Army and its mission. Since 1939, Western & Southern has sponsored the Crib of the Nativity display in Cincinnati each December. The display is free, and visitors can make donations that benefit The Salvation Army. Western & Southern’s foundation matches those financial contributions to double the impact of visitors’ gifts.
Since 2000, when The Salvation Army launched its holiday Adopt-a-Family/Adopt-a-Senior program, Western & Southern associates have adopted families and seniors who would otherwise not have gifts at Christmas. In 2017, associates adopted a record 64 families and 54 seniors, once again making Western & Southern the largest sponsor in the Greater Cincinnati area. Western & Southern has also supported The Salvation Army’s annual golf outing, dinner and awards programs for years.
About Western & Southern Financial Group
Founded in Cincinnati in 1888 as The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company, and celebrating 130 years this year, Western & Southern Financial Group, Inc. (Western & Southern), a Fortune 500 company, is now the parent company of a group of diversified financial services businesses. Its assets owned ($48 billion) and managed ($27 billion) totaled $75 billion as of Sept. 30, 2018. Western & Southern is one of the strongest life insurance groups in the world. Its six life insurance subsidiaries (The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company, Western-Southern Life Assurance Company, Columbus Life Insurance Company, Integrity Life Insurance Company, The Lafayette Life Insurance Company and National Integrity Life Insurance Company) maintain very strong financial ratings. Other member companies include Eagle Realty Group, LLC; Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc.;1 IFS Financial Services, Inc.; Peppertree Partners LLC;1 Touchstone Advisors, Inc.;1 Touchstone Securities, Inc.;2 W&S Brokerage Services, Inc.;2 and W&S Financial Group Distributors, Inc. Western & Southern is the title sponsor of six major community events every year, including the Western & Southern Open, a premier event in the U.S. Open Series played each August by the world’s top-ranked professional male and female tennis players.
1 A registered investment advisor.
