Princeton’s Michael Stutzke named to SRCCF Board

Princeton’s Michael Stutzke, a civic leader and restorer of historic downtown buildings, was recently named to the Starved Rock County Community Foundation Board.

Stutzke arrived in Princeton in 2016 and has been involved in renovations including the old Centrue Bank and parts of the Knox Hotel.

He has also helped lead the Princeton Rotary’s “Shrimpfest” and is a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow. He is also a member of the Princeton Historic Preservation Commission and the Bureau County Zoning Board of Appeals.

As a native of the Philadelphia suburb of Gladwyne, Stutzke graduated from Villanova University and served as an officer in the U.S. Marines.

Stutzke has lived much of his life in the Vero Beach, Fla., area including 22 years at Sebastian River High School where he taught government and economics in the International Baccalaureate program and served as athletic director from the school’s founding in 1994 until his retirement in 2016.

In that time, Sebastian helped win 59 district, eight regional and four state championships; had 20 individual state champions and earned the 2012 state sportsmanship award for Class 7A schools.

Stutzke and his wife Sue now raise corn and soybeans on their Princeton family farm.

On Aug. 9, he will attend his first Starved Rock Country Community Foundation meeting as he joins its 15-member board.

“(Stutzke) is a remarkably accomplished individual we are fortunate to add to our team,” SRCCF CEO Fran Brolley said. “In Florida, he was a leader for the Scholarship Foundation of Indian River County and I expect he will contribute mightily to our scholarship program as well.”

Since its founding by Pamela and Chuck Beckett of Ottawa in 2015, SRCCF has distributed over $1.8 million in community investments, grants and scholarships and has established nearly 90 funds.

For information, contact Brolley at 815-252-2906 or fran@srccf.org.