Since her death last month, tributes have poured in for Virginia McCaskey, the owner of the Chicago Bears. On March 3, Patrick McCaskey, one of her children, offered a personal reflection.
“My mother is my hero because she accepted God’s grace and mercy and forgave those who trespassed against her,” he said at a Lake Forest City Council meeting where the city offered a Resolution of Sympathy to the McCaskey family. The Bears have had a presence in the city since 1975.
Virginia McCaskey was the team’s owner since 1983, taking over after the death of her father, George Halas, the team founder.
Patrick McCaskey mentioned his remembrance was his sixth attempt after his mother edited the previous versions.
“The first five had too much praise. She didn’t want praise, she wanted grace,” he said.
McCaskey, a Bears vice president, listed important moments of his mother’s life including her birthday, the sacraments of baptism and First Communion.
He mentioned she later attended the Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia.
“She studied business because she wanted to be her father’s secretary,” he said.
McCaskey said his mother met Edward McCaskey when they went “on a semi blind date” that led to a 1943 marriage that produced 11 children.
He said his mother found it amusing when someone asked about the amount of hired help she had.
“She did all the cooking, laundry and housework. The only real time she got a break was when she went into the hospital to have another baby,” he said. “Our version of family planning was to have the children born during the Chicago Bears off seasons.”
He then alluded to the fact that seven of the 11 children were born in the offseason.
“We had seven victories and four ties,” he quipped.
With his voice quivering, McCaskey added,
“She lived the gospel that Mom spelled upside down is Wow.”
The Bears started practicing in Lake Forest in 1975. In 1979, the team opened its first Halas Hall at the Lake Forest College campus. In 1997, the team opened a second version of Halas Hall at the back of the Conway Park office complex.
Mayor Stanford “Randy” Tack read the resolution that said Virginia McCaskey was guided by a commitment to “do the right thing.”
The resolution read in part, “Mrs. McCaskey has left an indelible mark on the city of Lake Forest. Her legacy will long be remembered with immense gratitude and respect.”
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
