Honor Eric Vachon with a Memorial Tree

We are honoring one of our beloved friend, Eric Vachon’s, final wishes.

Eric came to Illini Bluffs during our high school sophomore year. A New Englander, his mom had married Chuck Brackney and a transition to the Midwest was his fate. And, that fateful life change benefited all of us who attended IB. It’s not necessarily an easy thing to immerse yourself in a small school culture, but Eric arrived with a light in his eyes and a love in his heart that couldn’t be denied. We quickly learned to love him, laugh with him and marvel at that hair! Post graduation, he returned to his New England roots, married his love, Shannon, welcomed his baby, Riley, and built a life. Yet, Eric has never forgotten his Midwest friends and has stayed in touch with many of us over the years. He has always spoken so lovingly of his time at IB. During his final days, several of us had the blessing of talking with him on group video chats. True to his caring, considerate, loving nature, he spoke courageously of his final wishes for a tree to be planted at IB and for his friends to gather and celebrate his love and friendship. We aim to do just that for our sweet friend. I have been given a quote from the school for $1800 to have a tree (Exclamation Sycamore) planted near the soccer fields that he helped to establish. We would be so grateful for your donations to this cause in memory and celebration of Eric (Heenie).

Thank you for honoring him. ❤️