A $1 Million Gift

Chicago business leader and Peoria native Bon French and his wife, Holly, announced a $1 million contribution to the Peoria Riverfront Museum last month. French is a graduate of Woodruff High School and chairman of the board of the Chicago-based private equity firm Adams Street Partners. The gift will create two funds recognizing the work of his mother and father.

The first fund will be named for Joan Trenchard French of Peoria Heights, one of the founding members of the museum’s predecessor, the Lakeview Museum of Arts & Sciences. She created Lakeview’s original docent and school loan programs and an afterschool outreach program for underserved neighborhoods, and chaired its first annual fund drive. The museum’s welcome center on the lower level will be named in her honor. 

The second fund will be named for the late Taylor French, who once chaired the Lakeview Museum Board. The Taylor French Decoy Fund will support the new Center for American Decoys at the Peoria Riverfront Museum, recognizing French’s passion for duck hunting and admiration of decoy folk art. For more information, visit riverfrontmuseum.org. PM