5 things to know about Virginia Halas McCaskey, who died Thursday at 102

Chicago Bears owner Virginia Halas McCaskey died at the age of 102 on Thursday. McCaskey was the matriarch of the franchise and she was both the NFL’s oldest owner and its longest-tenured owner.

Condolences poured in from around the NFL on Thursday, including from commissioner Roger Goodell.

A visitation will be held for McCaskey from 1-8 p.m. Tuesday at Oehler Funeral Home in Des Plaines, according to her obituary.

Here are five things to know about McCaskey.

1. McCaskey was born not long after the Bears

Her father George Halas joined the Decatur Staleys football team in 1920 and bought the team from his employer, the A.E. Staley Manufacturing Company, for $100 in 1921. He moved the team from Decatur, Illinois, to Chicago in 1921 and renamed it the Chicago Bears in 1922.

Halas' eldest child, Virginia Marion Halas, was born on Jan. 5, 1923. Virginia was alive for all but three of the Bears' 105 seasons. She accompanied her father on the 1925 barnstorming tour after the team signed superstar halfback Red Grange. She attended the first unofficial NFL championship game in 1932. That game was also the NFL’s first indoor game. The game moved to Chicago Stadium due to cold weather.

Virginia McCaskey was alive for all but the first Bears-Packers game. In the last game of her life – on her 102nd birthday – the Bears defeated the Packers for the first time in six years.

[ A brief timeline of key moments in Virginia Halas McCaskey’s life ]

2. McCaskey never intended to run the Bears

Virginia McCaskey was a busy mother of 11 living in the north suburbs when her brother George “Mugs” Halas Jr. died of a heart attack in 1979. His death left his sister as the only remaining heir to the team. At the time, George Halas Sr. was still alive but he was in his 80s. In one of Halas Sr.‘s last major moves, he hired Mike Ditka as head coach in 1982.

McCaskey, and pretty much everyone in Chicago, expected her brother to run the team once Halas Sr. was gone. But Halas Jr.‘s unexpected death – he was 54 when he died – changed that plan.

Upon Halas Sr.‘s death in 1983, ownership of the team transferred to McCaskey. Her eldest son Michael McCaskey became team president following his grandfather’s death.

3. She oversaw the ‘85 Bears

Virginia McCaskey was in charge when the Bears won their only Super Bowl championship following the 1985 season.

“That was a very unusual team and a very unusual season because so much of the normal stress of game day seemed to be disappearing,” she once said, according to ChicagoBears.com. “We could go to the game and not be completely knotted up inside.”

She also formed a close bond with star running back Walter Payton. Even after Payton died in 1999, Virginia McCaskey remained close with Payton’s wife Connie and their children and grandchildren.

Virginia McCaskey had a strong regard for Bears history and she continued to attend games in her later years.

When the Bears returned to the Super Bowl following the 2006 season, Virginia McCaskey accepted the George Halas Trophy wearing the same fur coat her mother wore when the Bears won the 1963 NFL championship.

4. She once fired her own son as team president

Just weeks after the Bears botched the hiring of a new head coach, Virginia McCaskey removed her own son Michael McCaskey from his role as team president.

The Bears and coach Dave McGinnis were close to a deal to make McGinnis the next head coach. But the Bears prematurely sent out a press release announcing the hiring and scheduling a news conference. McGinnis, who had yet to sign any paperwork, backed out of consideration.

It was a messy ordeal and it was the last straw for Michael McCaskey. Virginia McCaskey removed her son and instead gave him the title of chairman of the board, which had previously been his father Ed McCaskey’s role. The Bears promoted Ted Phillips to president, making him the first person not named Halas or McCaskey to hold that title.

Announcing that decision at a news conference in 1999 was one of the few times that Virginia McCaskey, who liked to stay out of the public eye, spoke in public.

5. She kept the Bears a family business

Ed and Virginia McCaskey had 11 children, 21 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren. Their son Timothy died in 2011 and their son Michael died in 2020. Virginia’s husband Ed McCaskey died in 2003.

Over a 105-year history, the Bears have remained a family business.

Her son George McCaskey is the current chairman of the board. He took over in 2011 when his brother Michael McCaskey retired.

At the time of Virginia McCaskey’s death, five of the seven board members were McCaskey family members (including Virginia). The other board members are current team president Kevin Warren and businessman Pat Ryan, who bought a minority share in the team from the children of George “Mugs” Halas Jr. in 1990.