Print


Former Society President Dies

Bernard Barnett, former president of the state Society, passed away on July 2.

Bernard, often known as Bernie, was born on Oct. 14, 1920, joined the Society in September 1947, and served as president from 1976 to 1977.

He worked at Seidman & Seidman LLP for many years, and although he retired from the firm in the mid-’80s, he served in a consulting capacity at BDO Seidman.

Janice Johnson said Bernie was her mentor and friend.

“The best description of Bernie is that he was a truly nice person and really a true gentleman and a scholar,” she said. “He was just the most amazingly nice, generous, supportive guy. He was also supportive of women at a very early stage in the profession.”

Johnson said that many in accounting turned to Bernie for advice.

“Whenever I needed a sounding board, he was always the person I talked to about what I should do,” she said. “The thing that was so remarkable about Bernie was how truly in love he was with state and gift taxation, and particularly trust taxation. Everybody turned to him for answers.”

Bernie was very well traveled, Johnson added.

“He traveled all over the world—I don’t think there are too many places he hadn’t been. He loved to visit penguins, and he made several trips to Antarctica to visit them. He thought penguins were fabulous. If you got him started on that, you could hear about it for days.”

Johnson said Bernie’s love of chocolate was also well known, and that he was notorious for indulging his sweet tooth.

“It was not a good luncheon or meal unless Bernie got something chocolate for dessert—he just loved it, and everybody knew it,” she said. “It was Bernie’s birthday right around when we were having a luncheon meeting. They brought out a fruit dessert, and you could tell Bernie was disappointed. But someone had arranged for him to have his chocolate, and out came a sterling silver bowl of chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce for his birthday.”

Overall, Johnson said, Bernie was a unique and charming individual.

“I’ll miss him a lot. He was a very great guy,” she said. “He was a character in the best sense of the word.”
Barnett, who resided in Tarrytown, N.Y., is survived by his wife, Helen, and his daughter, Susan. He is preceded in death by his twin brother, Stanley, and his son, Douglas.