Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr ’64 was taking phone calls from the news media one afternoon when his daughter, Katherine, dropped by for an unannounced visit. “My daughter just walked through the door and surprised me, so now my day is greatly improved,” Barr told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Any day my wife or daughter stops by is a good day.” Words such as that are commonplace for Mr. Mayor, who in March announced his intention to retire, thanking his wife and daughter for seven years of unwavering support. “I have to recognize the incredible support. When the going got rough, there was never a doubt about whose corner these two ladies were in,” he said at a media press conference. Barr leaves City Hall having revitalized older central city neighborhoods while luring large economic development projects into Fort Worth. Barr benefited from good economic times, and he is generally credited with expanding city services while reducing the city’s property tax rate. Barr will now devote his attention to The Barr Co., a family-run printing business that his father — former Fort Worth mayor Willard Barr — started more than 55 years ago. The economic downturn, coupled with advances in desktop publishing, have hit the printing business hard. “I’ve been friends with Ken for 40 years, and he was in tears over this,” said Councilman Jim Lane ’66, one of Barr’s old fraternity chums. “I’ve watched him grow, mature and struggle. We’ve been there together during the great victories and when we’ve gotten our fannies kicked around. “This is a sad day, and I am going to miss him.” So will the city.