Virginia McCaskey was at the center of it all. She was the true matriarch of the organization. On Thursday, the NFL world learned of her passing at the age of 102. She lived about as good of a life as a human being can ask for.

Once upon a time, Virginia McCaskey inherited memorabilia from a cousin, a collection that included a box of old ticket stubs. In it, she said, was a torn admittance to the NFL’s 1932 championship game between the Chicago Bears and Portsmouth Spartans.

She inherited the Bears from her father in 1983, one of the few women in sports to hold such a powerful position.

Virginia McCaskey preferred the role of cheerleader and caretaker of the Chicago Bears to that of power broker. But nobody made a major decision without first consulting her.

George Halas founded the Chicago Bears in 1920, and daughter Virginia McCaskey remained the team's primary owner until her death Thursday, at age 102. What happens now?

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Virginia Halas McCaskey was thrust into role as principal owner of the Chicago Bears after the deaths of her brother and father.

McCaskey has been the team's principal owner since 1983, when her father and team founder George S. Halas died.

Those hoping to pay respects to longtime Chicago Bears principal owner Virginia McCaskey may do so at a visitation Tuesday in Des Plaines, according to a funeral home announcement. McCaskey, the originally reluctant heir to the NFL franchise that her father,