Chicago Bears team owner Virginia Halas McCaskey dies at 102
The team announced Thursday that Virginia Halas McCaskey died at the age of 102.
CHICAGO – Virginia McCaskey, principal owner of the Chicago Bears, died today at the age of 102, the team announced Thursday.
McCaskey had served as the owner of the Bears since her father and founder, George S. Halas died in 1983.
The Bears released a statement announcing her death Thursday.
“Installing the values of faith and family in every person she met, not just her own family, was the essence of her life’s work,” the statement read. “Mrs. McCaskey stated she never felt like a qualified football mind but focused on supporting others to do the best job for the club, team and its fan base. Her focus was never to lead the Bears organization rather to instill her faith in those who did. She wanted to help everyone who touched the organization, staff, coaches, players and fans, realize they were all a part of one big family. Mrs. McCaskey hoped that Bears fans had as much faith in the team as she did in them. Through it all, Mrs. McCaskey couldn’t imagine her life as anything else than what it was.”
McCaskey was born in 1923 to Min and George Halas. She grew up in Chicago and attended Drexel University in Philadelphia where she met her future husband, Edward W. McCaskey. They got married in 1943.
McCaskey had 11 children, eight sons and three daughters. She recently celebrated her 102nd birthday on Jan. 5. For her birthday, the Chicago Bears beat the Green Bay Packers 24-22 on a walk-off field goal to conclude the 2024 season.
McCaskey’s father, George Halas, initially intended for Virginia’s younger brother George Halas Jr. to inherit the team. “Mugs,” as Halas Jr. was known as, died of a heart attack suddenly in 1979, meaning Virginia inherited the team in 1983 when Halas Sr. passed away.
McCaskey oversaw difficult decisions at the head of the Bears, including firing her own son, Michael McCaskey, as team president in 1999. Michael remained chairman of the Bears’ board until 2011. George McCaskey, Virginia’s eighth-oldest son, became chairman of the board.
The Bears won Super Bowl XX under McCaskey’s ownership. The Bears played in Super Bowl XLI under her ownership, as well.
The Bears defeated the New Orleans Saints on January 21, 2007, to earn a trip to Super Bowl XLI. After the win, McCaskey accepted the NFC Championship trophy, the George Halas Trophy, named after her father.
McCaskey, in that moment, called accepting the trophy “her happiest day so far.”
According to the Bears, McCaskey had 11 children, eight sons and three daughters.
She is survived by her sons Patrick, Edward Jr., George, Richard, Brian and Joseph, and daughters Ellen, Mary and Anne. She is also survived by 21 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.
“I have been told that I have watched more professional football than anyone alive,” McCaskey said in the film “A Lifetime of Sundays.” “From the time I was born I have loved the game and after almost 100 years, I still do.”
Virginia McCaskey smiles while talking with a fan during the Bears100 Celebration at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center on June 8, 2019, in Rosemont, Illinois. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
What they’re saying:
The McCaskey family released the following statement in the wake of her death.
“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. “She guided the Bears for four decades and based every business decision on what was best for Bears players, coaches, staff and fans.”
Virginia is survived by her sons, Patrick, Edward Jr., George, Richard, Brian and Joseph, and daughters Ellen, Mary and Anne. She is also survived by 21 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.
