Marilyn & Steven Prater Family Fund

Marilyn and Steven Prater met as teachers at Emerson School in 1969. Marilyn spent over 40 years in the field of education before her death on January 17, 2008. Steven spent most of his career as a counselor and teacher at John Wood Community College and continues to be involved in the community today. Together they devoted their lives to children and education.

The Marilyn and Steven Prater Fund is an endowed fund established with the Community Foundation to provide support for tuition assistance at St. Francis Solanus School in Quincy, Illinois. “Mom saw kids’ eyes light up most in the acts of reading books and performing music,” said Ethan Prater, Marilyn and Steven’s son. “She never said so explicitly, she just lived it through her actions.”

“The fund was Mom’s idea,” said Ethan. “When planning her funeral she wanted to see something ongoing and useful done with the funds she knew her friends, family, and students would donate in her memory.”

If even a few area children discover the love of reading or music because of the fund, then the passion for education Marilyn and Steven shared will live on.