Chicago Bears owner Virginia McCaskey dies at age 102
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago Bears owner Virginia McCaskey has died at the age of 102, the team announced Thursday.
"While we are sad, we are comforted knowing Virginia Halas McCaskey lived a long, full, faith-filled life and is now with the love of her life on earth," the family said in a statement provided by the Bears. "She guided the Bears for four decades and based every business decision on what was best for Bears players, coaches, staff and fans."
Mrs. McCaskey was the eldest child of "Papa Bear" George Halas Sr., a founding father of both the Bears and the National Football League. He came on as a player/coach with the team – originally the Decatur Staleys – in 1920, and built it into an American sports powerhouse.
"He lived his dream, and saw it grow into such magnificent proportions, and it's amazing to me," she once said of her legendary father.
Born in 1923, she learned all about the team from her father, and inherited the team after his death in 1983. Her only brother, George "Mugs" Halas Jr., had died of a heart attack in 1979, leaving her as the sole heir to the franchise.
Guided by her core principles of faith and family, she served at the helm of the iconic football franchise for over 40 years. Two years after her father's death, McCaskey oversaw the team's 9th world championship and first Super Bowl title at the end of the historic 1985 season, dominating the Patriots in a 46-10 victory in Super Bowl XX. In 2007, she once again accepted the George S. Halas NFC Championship trophy.
In what seems to be a bit of divine intervention, the last Bears game Mrs. McCaskey saw was their season-ending win over the arch-rival Packers on her 102nd birthday, Jan. 5.
"Mrs. McCaskey understood, not only her father's love and appreciation of football and the team which he played for, coached and owned, but also the love of the Chicago Bears by its fans. She always kept in mind what the Bears meant to the City of Chicago and what the city meant to the Bears," the team said in a statement. "She had a passion for the team that matched her father's, celebrating every win with grace while quietly suffering every loss."
While staying out of the spotlight, McCaskey was a fixture at games and the various charitable causes she championed. The mother of 11 children carried herself with class and dignity as a rare female owner in NFL.
Despite her calm demeanor, "Mama Bear" had the same competitive spirit as her fiery father, and agonized with Bears fans when the "Monsters of the Midway" didn't have success on the field. Owning the Bears was much more than running a family business.
"The Bears have been my life all these years. I feel very blessed and grateful," she said in 2019 as the Bears celebrated the franchise's 100th anniversary.
Mrs. McCaskey attended Chicago public schools until the 8th grade, when she transferred to St. Hilary Catholic school. She attended St. Scholastica Academy high school before getting her college degree from Drexel University in Pennsylvania in 1943.
It was at Drexel where she met her future husband, Ed. The two married on in February 1933 at St. Margaret Mary's Church in Maryland.
While Mrs. McCaskey has been the team's principal owner for more than 40 years, she left the operation of the team up to her late husband and children.
Her husband, Ed McCaskey, was already the team's vice president when George Halas Sr. died in 1983, and he then took over as team chairman until he died in 1999.
"There is no one word to describe him," Virginia McCaskey said of her husband in a 2013 interview for Drexel's LeBow College of Business. "We had 60 good years. They weren't always easy. We had eight sons and three daughters. He used to call me 'Laughing Girl' because it was either laugh or cry. But it was all good.
Their eldest son, Michael McCaskey, took over as president of the Bears after Halas' death, and became chairman of the board in 1999, following his father's death.
Michael McCaskey retired as team chairman in 2011, and his brother, George – a former CBS Chicago news writer – took over as chairman and has run the team since. Michael McCaskey died of cancer at the age of 76 in 2020.
"Virginia Halas McCaskey, the matriarch of the Chicago Bears and daughter of George Halas, the founder of the NFL, leaves a legacy of class, dignity, and humanity. Faith, family, and football – in that order – were her north stars and she lived by the simple adage to always 'do the right thing,'" NFL commissioner Roger Goddell said in a statement. "The Bears that her father started meant the world to her and he would be proud of the way she continued the family business with such dedication and passion. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the McCaskey and Halas families and Bears fans around the world."
Mrs. McCaskey had 11 children, eight sons and three daughters. She is survived by her sons – Patrick (Gretchen), Edward Jr. (Kathy), George (Barbara), Richard, Brian (Barbara) and Joseph – and daughters Ellen (Barney) Tonquest, Mary and Anne (Mike) Catron. Her husband passed away in 2003. Their son, Timothy, passed in 2011 and Michael passed in 2020. She is also survived by 21 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.
It's unknown how Mrs. McCaskey's controlling interest in the franchise will be divided among the family after her death.
