CHICAGO, Ill. – A baseball legend from Peoria is one of the recipients of the highest honors in the state of Illinois.
Jim Thome was announced Monday as one of seven 2024 recipients of the Order of Lincoln by Governor J.B. Pritzker. The award is the highest civilian honor in the state for professional achievement and public service.
Thome is a graduate of Limestone High School, who also played at Illinois Central College. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018 after a 22-year career on six teams, most notably the Cleveland Indians.
Thome is a five-time All-Star with a .276 career batting average and 612 home runs, the 8th most of all-time. He was also the recipient of the 2002 Roberto Clemente Award, awarded to the player who best represents the game through character and community involvement.
Other Order of Lincoln honorees include:
- Country music singer Alison Krauss, born in Decatur and raised in Champaign, has sold more than 12 million records and made 14 albums. She has won 27 Grammys from 42 nominations.
- Philanthropist, businesswoman, and mentor Evelyn Brandt Thomas, was described by Farm World as “a pioneer who helped create an agricultural empire.” She helped grow Brandy Consolidated for nearly 70 years.
- Lewis Collens is a highly-respected educator who helped revitalize and transform the Illinois Institute of Technology and its Chicago-Kent College of Law. He is also the co-founder of the bar review company BARBRI, which helps prepare lawyers to pass the bar, especially those who lack financial resources.
- Aurora-native Hon. Rita B. Garman, who served on the Illinois Supreme Court after a law career that started in 1968. She is only the second woman ever to hold the position of Chief Justice, from 2013-2016.
- Chicago-native Lester H. McKeveer, Jr., who became the 60th black Certified Public Accountant in the United States in 1960. He led the board of the Federal Reserve of Chicago as its chairman. The Illinois CPA Society created the “Lester H. McKeveer, Jr. Advancing Diversity Award” in his honor in 2016.
- Chicago-native Raul I. Raymundo co-founded The Resurrection Project from a seed amount of $30,000, and leveraged it into more than $640 million in community investments in Chicago’s western suburbs and the city’s southwest side. The investments include affordable housing and early childhood centers.
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