UWEC Athletics Hall of Fame
Don Barnes was a four-year letterman in football, track, tennis and boxing from 1933 through 1937. Barnes was an All-Conference Second Team pick as a freshman football player in 1933. He co-captained the 1936 team. In track, he set school records in both the shot put and discus and placed as high as second in each of the conference track meets. He was a heavyweight division champ in boxing.
Following a four-year stint with the United States Navy during World War II, he returned to pursue a law degree which he received from the University of Wisconsin in 1949. Barnes was a machinist at McDonough Manufacturing Co. of Eau Claire from 1937-40. He served as mayor of the City of Eau Claire from 1940-46. He began a career as a lawyer in Eau Claire in 1949. Barnes served as a member of the Eau Claire Board of Education for more than 29 years and held the offices of president and vice-president during that time. He was a County Board Supervisor for two years, and a member of the Board of Trustees of Eau Claire County Institutions for nine years, has been a Circuit Court Commissioner since 1954 and spent 15 years as County Probate Administrator.
