Slain Peoria surgeon remembered as a patron of the arts, educator, avid sailor

PEORIA — William Marshall was a tall, gentle giant who both commanded respect and exuded elegance, said his friends less than a week after he was found stabbed to death in his North Peoria home.

And they point to one Downtown piece of art that serves as a memorial to his affection for the arts in Peoria.

"He had a wonderful presence and elegance about him," said Kristan McKinsey, director of the Illinois Women Artists Project and a former curator at the Peoria Riverfront Museum. "I loved the way he would walk, very confidently but without haughtiness. He accepted others regardless of their backgrounds or their interests. He really wanted to know who you were."

Marshall, 92, was found dead in his home in the 500 block of East High Point Place early on Wednesday. He was the city's first homicide of 2021. An autopsy indicated he had been stabbed multiple times. 

Peoria police have released no further details. Police spokeswoman Amy Dotson said Monday that no arrests had been made. 

A surgeon, Marshall had retired in the late 1990s but was well known throughout the area for not just his medical prowess but also for his love of the arts. A fellow physician, Allan C. Campbell, said his friend had "no particular desire to seek out publicity." 

The Peoria Medical Society, of which Marshall had been a member since the 1960s, mourned his death.

"Dr. Marshall is remembered as a dedicated, highly competent and compassionate physician, an educator of many of our surgeons here in Central Illinois, and was the first chairman of the Department of Surgery at the University of Illinois College of Medicine-Peoria," the society said.

His actions have led to the education of future surgeons as well as to the community's enjoyment of the arts. John Morris, the museum's CEO, said Marshall's collection of American Impressionist artwork was among the best in the state. 

"He had a first-rate eye for the arts," he said.

William Marshall and his wife, Nancy, who survives him, donated to the museum, helped out on committees and also helped to foster a general love for art by loaning out their collection to the museum and other facilities. 

“Peoria Riverfront Museum board and staff mourns the tragic loss of our community's greatest American art collector. Our hearts are filled with gratitude for the tremendous contributions he made to the community through our museum and so many other ways," Morris said in a Facebook post. 

Campbell remembered his friend in another way — as an avid sailor. 

"He enjoyed sailing. He enjoyed being on the Illinois River, and he had a sailboat for many years. We went on some sailing trips together. Our families went to Greece around the Greek islands for a period," he said.

And there is, of course, the story that many will remember Marshall for, especially Moni Gibbs — that of the "Fountain Group” sculpture.

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The piece, which is the central sculpture in the museum's Sculpture Garden courtyard, was created — or at least a plaster model was — by Harrison Gibbs in the late 1930s. Years later, he was killed while serving with the U.S. Army during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944. 

The model sat in a barn for about 70 years until Gibbs' daughter Moni decided she wanted to find a place for it after her aunt died about 15 years ago. She thought Peoria would be a good place for it and sought help from the museum. 

"After a few months, I happened to see a performance of the Heartland Festival Orchestra, and the Marshalls came up. They said, 'We think that your father's fountain should come to the museum.' I knew then that they wanted to make sure this came to life in Peoria," she said.

And that doesn't surprise anyone who knew Marshall. Morris said his friend was a caring soul who wanted to have others experience art and to gain from it. McKinsey said that she believed that art "spoke to his spirit and to his soul, and he wanted to do that for other people." 

"It gave him such great joy," she said. 

Moni Gibbs will never forget what the Marshalls, both William and Nancy, did for her father. 

"His support for the fountain is something that I will never, ever forget," she said. "I'm incredibly grateful for his and Nancy's funding for that. Bill's passing is a terrible loss to the community. I feel it very strong. I hope that the fountain will serve as a memorial to Bill as well as my father and my mother.

"It serves to remind the community of Bill and Nancy's generosity. He was just an extremely kind and very considerate person."