Virginia Halas McCaskey was the longtime owner of the NFL’s Chicago Bears, heading the team since inheriting it from her father in 1983.
- Died: February 6, 2025 (Who else died on February 6?)
- Details of death: Died at the age of 102.
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Virginia Halas McCaskey’s legacy
McCaskey did not aspire to be the owner of one of the NFL’s best known and most popular teams. She majored in business management at Drexel University, and though she had a close relationship with football since she was a child, ownership was not a goal of hers, despite her father being league co-founder George Halas, who owned and founded the Chicago Bears.
But when Halas died in 1983, his intended heir, George Jr., had already passed away, having died of a heart attack in 1979. That left the family-owned team for McCaskey to inherit. So, she stepped up, becoming its primary owner until her death.
And the Bears started winning, too.
Just two seasons after McCaskey took ownership, the Bears won Super Bowl XX, after a year during which the team was seen as one of the most dynamic and attention-grabbing in the NFL, thanks to stars like quarterback Jim McMahon and defensive tackle William “The Refrigerator” Perry. The team won five consecutive NFC Central titles when she first took control, a run only interrupted when the franchise faltered in the 1990s.
McCaskey was a hands-off owner for much of her tenure after the ‘90s, with day-to-day control of the team falling at first to her sons, Michael and George, and later to executives like Ted Phillips and current president/CEO Kevin Warren. But she always remained one of the team’s biggest fans, and she was ecstatic when the Bears won the NFC Championship in 2007, earning another trip to the Super Bowl.
She had been the league’s oldest owner since 2014 and is currently under consideration to be entered in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Reflecting to fans on her 100th birthday
“I’m still trying to find words for what [the Bears] have meant to me, and, I hope, to all of you. It has made me even more grateful for what my life has been, and the position that I’m in … I just can’t believe I’m here and I’m enjoying life at my age, the way I am.” — speaking at Bears 100 event in 2019, quoted in Chicago Sun-Times
Tributes to Virginia Halas McCaskey
Full obituary: Chicago Sun Times
