Barbara Walter (2024)

Barbara was born to Edith and Joe Walter in 1949 in Little Rock, Arkansas, moving shortly thereafter to St Louis, Missouri. She graduated from University of Missouri (Phi Beta Kappa), NYU (MBA Management), Stern School of Business, and Stonier Graduate School of Banking. 

She married Robert (Bob) M. Reithner, Jr. (Bob).

Barbara worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 1971 as Research Assistant before retiring in 2005 as Senior Vice President and Manager of the Buffalo Branch.

Upon moving to Greenville, Barbara gave of her time and energy to the Greenville Memorial Public Library. Appreciating the role that libraries have played in her and our lives, Barbara has supported the “Friends of the Library and its fund-raising efforts that have enabled the library to offer free programs for residents of all ages beyond what taxpayers provide.” Importantly, Barbara helped the Friends to maintain its non-profit status with NYS.

Another beneficiary of Barbara’s talents is Community Partners of Greenville (CPOG). These efforts include:

·       Fifteen years as (co)treasurer

·       Greenville Beautification Committee projects: 19 historic lamp posts, benches, banners, flower planters for the hamlet

·       Fund-raising of private donations of over $50,000

·       Two Quack-Quack-Greenville duck art projects

·       Improvements to Prevost Hall, including raising $150,000 in grants for stained glass restoration. Barbara believes that Prevost Hall is important to the character of Greenville and to the attractiveness of the town as a place to live.

·       Written grants for Vanderbilt Park trail improvements and support of Greenville Day festivals

A unique and niche volunteer effort of Barbara’s for the Town of Greenville is her volunteer grant-writing. Her efforts assisted in:

·       Completion of an extensive process and paperwork needed to recover $100,000 in grant funds from NYS to reimburse the Town for its first major sewer upgrade.

·       The successful sidewalk federal grant, resulting in significant safety improvements in the Greenville hamlet. She worked with Supervisor Paul Macko to replace the crumbling sidewalks on SR 81 east and to aid the extension from Vanderbilt Park to County Estates on Route 32.

·       Assistance to the town board in using over $350,000 in ARPA funds (Covid relief funds from the Federal Government) by helping with the filing of required documentation.

·       Collaboration with Debbie Von Atzingen in filing a grant request for up to $5 million for the town in the NY Forward grant program in 2022.

“I have especially enjoyed lending analytical and writing skills to tasks undertaken by the town when needed, working closely with Town Supervisor Paul Macko as the town focuses on improving its infrastructure to support a vibrant community.”

            Barbara is also proud of the efforts she and husband Bob have taken to improve and preserve their property in Greenville. “When we bought what was then called Carelas Lake, the lake was in danger of eroding due to erosion, neglect, and muskrat damage.  We rebuilt Lake Barbara in 2007 to modern DEC standards so that it will last another 50 to 100 years and have improved the landscaping so that the view from Route 32 is an asset to the community.”

Barbara also enjoys painting, crossword puzzles and Wordle, waterskiing, and Pilates.

Barbara Walter, on behalf of our community, the GLHG thanks you for your diverse contributions to Greenville.