PEORIA HEIGHTS, Ill. (25 News) – Peoria Heights’ current mayor, only a few months into his term, is among many village leaders paying tribute to a man who served as mayor for 28 years.
Ray Picl died on Sunday, October 5. He was 96. Picl holds the record as the longest serving Peoria Heights mayor.
Mayor Matt Wigginton tells 25 News, “Ray certainly left his mark on our community.”
Village Trustee Brandon Wisenberg said in a post on Facebook that “Mayor Picl was the steady hand that guided our village for so many years. His vision and commitment have shaped the community we love today,” Wisenberg said.
Picl was Peoria Heights mayor from 1969 to 1997. Just last year, the village issued a proclamation honoring him for his 95th birthday. The proclamation noted that Picl, who was 6 feet, 3 inches tall, was a “towering influence in the history of Peoria Heights, ever committed to lower taxes and the village’s independence, ensuring that ‘the Heights stays the Heights.”
Picl graduated from Woodruff High School and Bradley University, was a U.S. Navy veteran, and worked 35 years as a food and drug advertising manager for the Peoria Journal Star.
Visitation for Mayor Picl will be from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1 at Peoria Heights Christian Church. A funeral service will follow. Burial will be at Swan Lake Memory Gardens in Peoria.
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