Bears, NFL bid farewell to matriarch Virginia McCaskey at funeral mass

Virginia McCaskey always seemed as comfortable with ordinary folks as she was with the most powerful people in the NFL.

The Bears matriarch herself was both, and her funeral mass Wednesday morning at St. Emily Catholic Church in Mount Prospect reflected it.

Guests arrived on private jets and in the back of darkened towncars. Some came from the neighborhood — the church is about a mile from where she and late husband Ed raised 11 children in Des Plaines after moving there in 1949 — and others from across the country. Some wore suits, others nuns’ habits and priests’ vestments and Catholic school uniforms.

They wanted to honor the daughter of Bears founder George Halas and a bloodline link to the founding of the NFL, one last time after her death Thursday at age 102. McCaskey owned the Bears since Oct. 31, 1983, when her father died.

The funeral drew some of the most powerful people in the NFL. Commissioner Roger Goodell and his wife Jane Skinner-Goodell, who was raised in the Chicago area and produced a documentary about McCaskey in 2019, were in attendance.

The Chargers’ Dean Spanos, the Giants’ John Mara, the Chiefs’ Lamar Hunt, the Bengals’ Mike Brown and the Cardinals’ Michael Bidwill were NFL owners who made the trip to Mount Prospect. Packers president Mark Murphy drove in. Cubs owner Tom Ricketts was there, too, as was Cook County Board president Toni Preckwinkle.

Four busloads of Bears employees made the trip south from Halas Hall. President/CEO Kevin Warren, new head coach Ben Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles showed their support, as did returning special teams coordinator Richard Hightower.

They were joined by some of the greatest Bears in recent memory, including Pro Football Hall of Famers Dan Hampton and Brian Urlacher. When Urlacher was inducted into the Hall in 2018, he threw a party in Canton, Ohio. McCaskey walked in after midnight, practically stopping Urlacher cold and delivering one of his most memorable moments of the weekend.

Former coach Lovie Smith attended, as did cornerback Charles Tillman and running back Matt Forte, who each made the Pro Bowl under his watch. Cairo Santos and Robbie Gould — statistically, the two greatest kickers in franchise history — were there.

Six of McCaskey’s grandsons served as pallbearers for the service, which lasted about an hour-and-a-half and was followed by a reception. She is survived by 21 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.