Virginia Halas McCaskey

Virginia Marion Halas McCaskey (born January 5, 1923) is an American football executive who is the principal owner of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). She is the eldest child of Bears founder and owner George Halas, who left the team to his daughter upon his death in 1983, and Minnie Bushing Halas. After the death of Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson in March 2014, she became the oldest owner in the NFL and in all major league sports in the United States. Officially, she is the secretary of the Bears franchise, as well as a member of the team's board of directors. However, she is empowered to vote the shares of her children and grandchildren as well as her own. Between them, McCaskey and other Halas heirs own 80% of the Bears. The franchise has been in the hands of the Halas-McCaskey family since George Halas acquired the then-Decatur Staleys from A. E. Staley and moved the team to Chicago in 1921, renaming the team the Bears the following year. The Bears have been owned by the same family for longer than any other family has owned an NFL team. McCaskey turned 100 on January 5, 2023. Career George Halas had initially intended for Virginia's younger brother, George "Mugs" Halas Jr., to inherit the team, and passed the team presidency to him in 1963. However, Mugs died suddenly of a heart attack in 1979. Thus, it was Virginia who inherited the Bears when her father died four years later. McCaskey inherited a Bears team that won Super Bowl XX two seasons after "Papa Bear's" death. It was part of a run of five consecutive NFC Central titles from 1984 to 1988.