(670 The Score) Virginia Halas McCaskey, the daughter of George Halas and matriarch of the Chicago Bears, has died, the team announced Thursday. She was 102 years old.

“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 was born in Chicago on Jan. 5, 1923, fewer than three years after her father founded the team that started as the Decatur Staleys. She joined her father to watch games as a child and is believed to have seen more NFL games than anybody else. Former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue referred to McCaskey as “The First Lady of the NFL.”

McCaskey was one of two children to Halas and his wife, Minnie. Her brother, George “Mugs” Halas, died suddenly of a heart attack in 1979. She married Ed McCaskey in 1943, and they raised a family of 11 children. She also has 21 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren.

When Halas died in 1983, McCaskey inherited ownership of the Bears. She ran the franchise with several of her children, with her son Michael McCaskey becoming team president in 1983 and later being appointed to chairman of the board in 1999. Her son George McCaskey took over as chairman in 2011, a position he has held since. Michael McCaskey died on May 16, 2020 after a long battle with cancer.

McCaskey attended Bears games in 1925 on what was known as the Red Grange Barnstorming Tour. She was present for the team’s 1963 NFL Championship win against the Giants and the franchise’s lone Super Bowl title on Jan. 26, 1986, in New Orleans. On Jan. 21, 2007, McCaskey and the Bears accepted and hoisted the NFC Championship trophy named after her father.

Her passion for the Bears ran deep. After the Bears fired then-coach Marc Trestman and then-general manager Phil Emery after a disappointing 2014 season, George McCaskey said his mother was “pissed off.” Even in her advanced age, she was a constant figure around the Bears in recent years and a frequent presence at Halas Hall.

McCaskey was a devout Catholic who attended mass every day. She was a philanthropist who created the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund after his passing in 1970, and she contributed to the Maryville, Midtown Educational Foundation and the McDermott Center. McCaskey was also involved with Bears Care, the team’s charitable arm.

Prior to her death, McCaskey was the oldest living owner in American sports and one of four female majority owners in the NFL.

McCaskey had 11 children, including eight sons and three daughters. She is survived by her sons Patrick (Gretchen), Edward Jr. (Kathy), George (Barbara), Richard, Brian (Barbara) and Joseph – and daughters Ellen (Barney) Tonquest, Mary and Anne (Mike) Catron. Her husband, Ed, passed away in 2003. Their son, Timothy, passed in 2011 and Michael passed in 2020.

McCaskey is also survived by 21 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.

Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.