Irwin and Frances LeCocq to Receive President's Award at WWU Commencement

BELLINGHAM – Irwin and Frances LeCocq, former executives with Whatcom County-based Peoples Bank, will receive the President’s Award, Western’s highest community honor, at the winter Commencement ceremony, which starts at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 21, in Carver Gymnasium.

Irwin and Frances LeCocq are well known in Whatcom County as the family behind one of the area’s oldest financial institutions, Peoples Bank. They’re also known and appreciated for their tireless support for the arts, education and the community’s social safety net.

“It’s an honor for Western to recognize the exceptional generosity and civic spirit of Frances and Irwin LeCocq with the President’s Award,” said Western President Bruce Shepard. “They have provided outstanding support and leadership at Western and at so many of Whatcom County’s arts, education and social organizations.  But more than that, their sense of gratitude to the community, and their powerful desire to give back, is inspiring.  I can’t think of a better model for our graduates to have before them as they think about their lives after Western, and to see what ‘Active Minds Changing Lives’ is all about.”

After graduating from Linfield College, Irwin and Frances LeCocq returned to Whatcom County.  Irwin joined Peoples State Bank in 1952, first as assistant cashier and eventually becoming president in 1969. When Irwin became president, the bank had $13 million in assets and three branches.  Frances played a significant role in the bank’s success; she is the former Community Affairs Officer.  Now, under the leadership of their son Charles, Peoples Bank has assets of over $1.3 billion and 24 locations in Western Washington

As the bank grew, so did the LeCocq family’s philanthropic legacy.  According to Irwin, “the community’s made us what we are, so we give back to it.” At Western, the LeCocqs have touched the lives of many students through the Peoples Bank / LeCocq Family Scholarships, awarded to high-achieving juniors from Whatcom County in the College of Business and Economics.  Frances has been impressed with the students who have received their scholarship, noting they are very talented. She believes a “good education is so important for the individual, the community, the country; it can help solve all the problems we have.”

The LeCocqs have also been generous with their time and service.  Irwin and Frances both served on the Western Foundation Board, and Irwin was a trustee of Western Washington University from 1982 to 1989.

Irwin has served on numerous boards, including the United Way of Whatcom County, Mount Baker Theatre, Campaign for the Arts, St. Joseph hospital, YMCA, Whatcom County Development Council, Whatcom Museum Society Board, Agriculture and Forestry Education Foundation and the Lynden Planning Commission. In 1998 Irwin received the Whatcom County Lifetime Business Achievement Award from Business Pulse Magazine.

Frances, who took classes at Western, has been a member of the League of Women Voters, served on the board of the Bellingham Festival of Music, and is a member of the Whatcom County Historical Society. Frances served as vice chair of the Whatcom County United Way and was a member of the Design Awards Committee for the Bellingham Public Facilities District Art & Children's Museum.

Peoples Bank has long been the title sponsor of Whatcom County’s famed Ski to Sea Race.  And it was the LeCocqs’ crucial support to the Campaign for the Arts that enabled the restoration of the Whatcom Museum and Mount Baker Theatre.

The LeCocq family legacy continues at Western, with grandson Ryan a recent graduate from the College of Business and Economics.