Virginia McCaskey, who inherited the Chicago bear from her father George Halas, but has avoided the spotlight in four decades as the main owner. She was 102.
McCaskey's family announced through the team that they died on Thursday. She had owned the bears on October 31, 1983 since her father's death.
“Although we are sad, we are comforted to know that Virginia Halas McCaskey lived a long, full, faithful life and now has the love of her life on earth,” said the family. “She led the bears for four decades and supported every business decision about what was best for Bears players, coaches, employees and fans.”
Like her father, a co -founder of the NFL, McCaskey held the team in family hands. She gave her eldest son, Michael McCaskey, who gave the operational control and the title of the president, who acted as chairman until the end of Brother George McCaskey in 2011.
During their responsibility, the bears won a super bowl in 1986 and lost a second 21 years later.
“Virginia Halas McCaskey, the matriarch of Chicago Bears and the daughter of George Halas, the founder of the NFL, leaves a legacy of class and humanity,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in a statement. “Faith, family and football – in this order – were her north stars and she lived after the simple saying that it was always the right thing to do. The bears her father started meant the world for her, and he would be proud of the way she continued the family company with such commitment and passion. Our thoughts and prayers go to the McCaskey and Halas families and wear fans all over the world. ”
Four of McCaskeys sons remain in the Board of Directors of the Bears: George, Patrick, Brian and Ed. A current rating of Forbes.com has set the value of the team at 6.4 billion US dollars.
McCaskey, the older of Hala's two children, had never expected them to be responsible. Her brother, George “cups” Halas Jr., was cultivated to take over the team, but suddenly died of a heart attack in 1979.
McCaskey took over her father's death in 1983, and her late husband Ed McCaskey succeeded Halas as chairman. It wasn't long after that she handed over Michael, the elders of her 11 children.
“I think it is important that all of our family remembers that we really have done nothing to earn this,” said McCaskey in a rare interview in 2006. “We are just the recipient of an enormous inheritance. I use the word “custody bank” and we want to pass it on in the best possible way. … we have been working on it for a long time. ”
McCaskeys official title was the secretary of the board of directors. Despite her general trade approach and its small public profile, she occasionally practiced the ultimate authority for team decisions as a matriarch for the family.
One of those who involved a lawsuit from 1987 who raised the children of “cups” Halas, which was solved by a share purchase of their shares. A recent memory came in December 2014, when George McCaskey announced and asked for coach Marc Trestman and General Manager Phil Emery to describe the role of his mother.
He took a break and struggled to describe her misfortune with the Just-End-5-11 season and the generally fading assets of the team.
“She's angry,” said George McCaskey. “I cannot imagine a 91-year-old woman who would be description, but in this case I cannot imagine a more precise description.
“Virginia McCaskey was on earth for eight of the nine championships and she wants more,” he added a moment later. “She has the feeling that it was too long since the last (Super Bowl victory), and this dissatisfaction is shared by her children, her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren. She is fed up with mediocrity. She has the feeling that she and fans earn it better everywhere. ”
Virginia McCaskey came to her fandom. According to family members, she often did not serve a dessert on Sundays when the bears lost. In the same interview from 2006, she remembered when she took part in the first playoff game in the history of the league when she was 9 years old.
The Bears and Portsmouth Spartans ended the 1932 season in the first game for first place, so the league added a game to determine a champion. Due to snow, the game was moved to the old Chicago stadium inside.
“I remember that I didn't save my ticket stub, but one of my cousins had saved his,” said McCaskey. “We were sitting in the second balcony and the ticket price was 1.25 US dollars.
“I brought it to one of the Super Bowls to show Pete Rozelle (former commissioner), and then I don't know what happened afterwards,” she added. “But that's okay.”
At her tenure as owner of ownership, the Bears Care program was founded in 2005. The Bears said that the Bears Care grants of more than 31.5 million US children and their families. Bear supply also supported programs to raise awareness of health awareness that focused on breast and ovarian cancer.
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 as well as the daughters Ellen (Barney) Tonquest, Mary and Anne (Mike) Catron. It is also survived by 21 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren and four primeval children.