PEORIA, Ill. — Bonnie Noble had a 43-year association with the Peoria Park District…as the board’s first female member, board president, and eventually as executive director.
Noble, 80, died Sept. 9. She had been ill for several years, according to an obituary. Services were scheduled for Monday, Sept. 13.
“She really helped to make sure the park district was part of people’s lives,” said Peoria Park District Executive Director Emily Cahill.
Noble spearheaded construction of the Peoria RiverPlex. She helped to complete the Rock Island Trail Bridge across Knoxville Avenue, and she
was instrumental in bringing the Peoria Playhouse Children’s Museum to the Glen Oak Park Pavilion.
“If you visit the Riverplex to work out, you’re doing that because of Bonnie’s work. If you go to the Peoria Zoo, and you appreciate ‘Africa’ and that whole expansion of the zoo, you’re doing that because Bonnie saw the opportunity and the vision there,” Cahill said.
Cahill succeeded Noble when she retired from Peoria Park District in 2016.
(Peoria Park District)
