Barrett died at the age of 82 at his home in Lake Placid on Sept. 2. The announcement that he would be inducted into the Hall of Fame came at the end of the first-ever I Love NY Adirondack Oktoberfest, an Adirondack Challenge-style event designed to promote tourism.

“The Hall of Fame Committee called a special session on Tuesday to discuss the request made by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to include Pat Barrett for induction into the Lake Placid Hall of Fame,” Sandy Caligiore, chairman of the Lake Placid Hall of Fame Committee, said in a statement. “There was special consideration given to Pat for his exemplary contributions as ORDA Chairman achieved in a bipartisan manner. Pat’s ability to bring people together and his generous love for our area will stay with us for decades. The decision of the Hall of Fame Committee was unanimous.”

At an induction ceremony on Oct. 26, Barrett will be honored alongside ski pioneer Francis Thaire Bryant, Olympic gold and silver medalist Billy Demong and Lake Placid village Mayor Craig Randall, according to Caligiore.

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday that the loss of Barrett was “tremendous,” and hailed his leadership as transformative.

J. Patrick Barrett presides over a March 2014 meeting of the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority Board of Directors, of which he was chair from 2011 until his death. (Enterprise photo — Matthew Turner)

Barrett grew up in St. Regis Falls and was a veteran of the U.S. Army, a businessman who lead Fortune 500 companies and a former chairman of the Republican Party in Onondaga County. His was a success story: He grew up poor and became a millionaire, at one point serving as head of the Avis car rental company.

He was in consideration to be National Football League commissioner in 1989 and ran for governor against Mario Cuomo in 1994, dropping out of the race when it became clear he would not get key support. He later became a supporter of that race’s victor, George Pataki.

As chairman of the ORDA board, Barrett has been credited with helping the authority to secure $140 million in state capital investment in the last two years, and helping keep the USA Luge association in Lake Placid when it considered leaving in 2015.

Barrett was also responsible for making ORDA remove former state Assemblyman Chris Ortloff’s plaque from the Lake Placid Hall of Fame, which hangs on a wall in the Lake Placid Olympic Center. Ortloff, who grew up in Lake Placid and was inducted into the local hall of fame in 1998, was released from federal prison Friday. Ortloff was convicted on felony charges in 2010 after planning to have sex with underage girls.

In early 2013, an Adirondack Life magazine column questioned why his plaque was still in the hall of fame. Upon hearing about it, Barrett ordered the plaque taken down immediately, and it was.