Chicago Bears principal owner Virginia Halas McCaskey has died at 102, the team announced on Thursday.
McCaskey was the eldest daughter of Bears founder George Halas, inheriting the team when he died in 1983. Her son, George McCaskey, is the current chairman of the team.
"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. “She guided the Bears for four decades and based every business decision on what was best for Bears players, coaches, staff and fans."
McCaskey celebrated her 102nd birthday earlier this month, on January 5.
Under McCaskey's tenure, the Bears went to two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl XX in 1986. Chicago won the NFC Championship against the New Orlean Saints in 2007 before falling to the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI. McCaskey has overseen ten head coaches in her 42 years as owner, with the most recent hiring of Ben Johnson being her last.
Prior to her death, McCaskey was the oldest and longest-tenured owner of an NFL franchise, and one of 10 female owners in the league. McCaskey and her family own 80% of the franchise.
McCaskey had 11 children and more than 40 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her oldest son, Michael, was team president from 1983 to 1999, and became chairman of the Bears' board until stepping down in 2011; George McCaskey, the eighth of Virginia McCaskey's children, took over and has been board chairman since. Michael McCaskey died in 2020.
Virginia's husband, Ed McCaskey, who was at one point chairman and treasurer of the Bears, died in 2003.
