Peter Illyn Memorial Fund

On December 11th, our dear friend, brother, husband, and father, Peter Illyn, passed away at 62 years of age. After a long battle with cancer, Peter left Mother Earth, whom he loved and cared for so deeply, to be with his Heavenly Father. He is survived by his wife, Debbie, two children, Alexis and Andy, and three grandchildren.

While Peter lived with his cancer diagnoses for many years, his passing happened rather quickly. Shortly before Peter's passing, he and Debbie suffered a house fire and were in the process of remodeling areas of their home that were impacted. The money raised from this campaign will go directly to Peter's family to cover the funeral costs and completing the post-fire house projects that Peter was unable to finish. 


Peter committed his life to "speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves." The trees, birds, elk, mountains, rivers, and sky. He taught a whole generation of Christians that loving our neighbor and loving God requires us to love, serve, and protect God's good creation. He inspired and led a movement of Christian activism that continues to this day.

My story about Peter
My first real job out of college was working for Peter at Restoring Eden. During those early days, me and Peter spent nearly a month together in Appalachia leading the Appalachian Community Health Survey Project. Before we took off for western Virginia, we met in Philadelphia and spent a few days tabling at the Justice Conference, a large Christian conference that brings together organizations and leaders doing justice work across the globe. The Philadelphia Convention Center was filled with fancy booths, big banners, and swag for well-endowed organizations and trendy "social enterprises". Peter and I showed up with some stickers (you know the ones) and a Restoring Eden banner held up by two posts set in 5 gallon buckets of mixed concrete that we made in the parking lot. Needless to say, it was clear we weren't a part of the "in crowd."
However, students and young people began flocking to our table to check out what the Christian hippie with the eye-patch was pitching. Peter was in his element. He'd dive into an impassioned sermon on the externalities of fossil fuels and the hypocrisy of Christians turning a blind eye (that one's for you Peter) to the plundering of the earth right in our backyard. And if you knew Peter, you know this wasn't just talk. When he finished speaking, he'd point students over to me to sign-up to spend their spring break with Restoring Eden. Within a few days, and for the next three weeks, Peter and I would be leading groups of college students through the hills and hollers of Appalachia conducting IRB backed health surveys that would help uncover the severe human health impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining on our country's poorest brothers and sisters. From then on, I knew I'd ride with Peter over being a part of the "in crowd" any day. 


Peter leaves behind a legacy of students, pastors, activists, former employees, and friends whom he inspired with his action, wisdom, stories, and sense of humor. To honor this "hard-living, grizzly-fighting [though llama-loving would be more appropriate] mountain man" (as Backpacker Magazine described him in 2011), we are calling on you to help support Peter's family. Any amount you can give will be very much appreciated.