You’ve never met a bigger football fan than Virginia McCaskey, who became the NFL’s oldest team owner and a beloved figure in Chicago sports history during her nearly 42-year tenure leading the Chicago Bears.
McCaskey, who passed away February 6, 2025, at age 102, was the longest-tenured owner in National Football League history. Known for never missing a game she could attend, she led the Bears organization from 1983 until her death.
Now the national football community and Chicago’s Catholic faithful are mourning her loss while honoring her extraordinary life of service, both to football and to countless charitable causes throughout the Chicagoland area.
Her death marks the end of an era, not only for the Chicago Bears franchise and the NFL, but also for the Catholic community in Chicago as it mourns a woman who left a remarkable legacy.
A graceful pioneer in professional football
In the male-dominated world of professional football, a female owner is a rare thing, and it was even rarer when McCaskey took on the role in 1983.
Born into the storied Halas family, Virginia inherited ownership from her father, George Halas, the legendary founder of the Chicago Bears. She managed this complex role while raising 11 children with husband Edward W. McCaskey.
The team’s statement said:
Over the last 41-plus years, Mrs. McCaskey continued the steadfast mission set forth by her father to uphold the values of the City of Chicago, its people and its fans.
Mrs. McCaskey understood, not only her father’s love and appreciation of football and the team which he played for, coached and owned, but also the love of the Chicago Bears by its fans. She always kept in mind what the Bears meant to the City of Chicago and what the city meant to the Bears.
Her faith guided her
Nothing was more important to McCaskey than her Catholic faith:
At the core of everything she did was Mrs. McCaskey’s faith. A devout Catholic, she always reflected on what God would want her to do in daily life. She focused on trying to help encourage people to be better to one another and once stated she was always working on her faith through good times and bad. She was known to cherish Christmas and Thanksgiving family gatherings and provided family and many friends with Nativity sets as a symbol of their faith and the true meaning of the holidays.
She and her husband were on "a quest to fill Chicagoland with Nativity scenes at Christmas time," one friend said, and would deliver one to anyone who wanted one for their front yard.
Aleteia spoke to a long-time friend of hers who described how faith guided McCaskey in all she did: “Her love for the Rosary was a foundation for her strength in whatever was going on in her life.”
She attended her parish’s 8:30 AM Mass every morning, arriving half an hour early to pray the Rosary with fellow parishioners. After Mass, despite her prominent position as an NFL team owner, she was most gracious and friendly to everyone who stopped to greet her before being helped to her car.
Generous helper of those in need
As a devout Catholic, McCaskey was a woman of extraordinary generosity who found countless opportunities to give back to the community:
Her commitment to the betterment of the Chicagoland community can be seen through the establishment of the Bears Care program in 2005. Since that time, Bears Care has issued grants totaling more than $31.5 million to 225 qualifying agencies to improve the quality of life for people in the Chicagoland community, especially disadvantaged children and their families, through targeted programs supporting education, youth athletics and medical research and health awareness programs focusing on breast and ovarian cancer. Mrs. McCaskey also generously supported numerous other worthy causes.
Aleteia had the opportunity to speak to a board member from Willows Academy, one of many organizations McCaskey supported. She shared a poignant memory that captured McCaskey’s essence:
When Mrs. McCaskey made a donation to the Willows Academy, several board members decided to bring flowers to her as a token of our appreciation. We were driving together and we kept driving right past her house because we expected to see an enormous mansion. Instead, to our surprise, she lived in a modest ranch house.
When they arrived, McCaskey was characteristically gracious, gently deflecting their thanks with her trademark humility. She always was a woman much more interested in making a difference than in being celebrated for it.
Another friend said, “She gave all her money away and never spent anything on herself. She just gave it all away and never wanted to be thanked or honored for it.”
A life of quiet grace
Friends remember McCaskey not for her position as an NFL team owner, but for her humble presence and thoughtful gestures.
One woman recalled when she and her husband were guests at an elegant fundraiser event and felt a little out of place: “Ginny stood up and flagged us to her table as if we were some of the most important people in the room. She was friends with every sort of person and their background made no difference.”
Her attention to individual needs was legendary. One friend recalled how McCaskey, upon overhearing someone mention wanting a football for a relative, quietly arranged for an official Bears football to be delivered to their address.
This friend also remembered how, at age 101, she attended the wedding of a young woman whose education she had sponsored years before: “They stayed in touch the rest of her life, and she was so proud of how this young woman was leading her life. She considered being there for her wedding very important.”
A legacy of love
Her final days came just before Super Bowl LIX, fitting timing for a woman whose life was so intertwined with professional football. Today, as the Chicago Bears and the NFL move forward without Virginia McCaskey for the first time in four decades, her legacy shows how true leadership transcends sport.
In a world where ego and spectacle are often on display, her life was a witness to a deeper wisdom: “When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing” (Matthew 6:3).
McCaskey's legacy extends far beyond the Chicago Bears' success or her charitable contributions. She was a rare kind of leader — one who leads with compassion, lives with integrity, and gives without expectation of recognition.
The great love of her life was her husband, Edward McCaskey. Friends recalled their complementary personalities: “He was very funny — I mean, hilarious! He was always telling jokes and making everyone feel comfortable, while she was more quiet and private.”
We can picture the two of them, reunited together in Heaven, laughing in each other’s presence again at last. We have a feeling that Mr. and Mrs. McCaskey will be enjoying football together again too, watching this Super Bowl from Heaven.
