Marian “Cindy” Good friend Pritzker was the matriarch of one in all Chicago’s strongest households. She was the spouse of the person behind the Hyatt Resort dynasty, aunt of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and a philanthropist who championed town’s public libraries and structure.
Mrs. Pritzker additionally preferred to have an excellent time. She loved the occasional glass of wine and cigarette. She held the household report for swearing. At age 80, she bought her ears pierced for the primary time. A decade later, she bought her first tattoo.
Mrs. Pritzker died Saturday, in line with a household consultant. She was 101 years outdated. An announcement from her household didn’t disclose how or the place she died.
“Cindy touched the lives of many, serving as a task mannequin for resilience, willpower and the facility of laughter,” her household mentioned within the assertion. “She met challenges with unwavering resolve, bringing her vitality and daring spirit to each endeavor. Her legacy lives on within the establishments she formed, town she beloved and the household she cherished.”
Mrs. Pritzker was the spouse of Jay Pritzker and mom to their 5 youngsters. She headed the Chicago Public Library Board and along with her husband co-founded the Pritzker Structure Prize. Andy Warhol even painted her portrait, which now hangs within the Chicago Athletic Affiliation resort’s rooftop lounge that carries her identify.
Mrs. Pritzker married Jay Pritzker after they met once they had been youngsters, and the 2 remained collectively till he died from a coronary heart assault in 1999. Jay Pritzker constructed the Hyatt Accommodations chain and helped develop his household’s multibillion-dollar enterprise empire.
Mrs. Pritzker was born in Chicago on Dec. 15, 1923, to Prepare dinner County Choose Hugo Good friend and Sadie Good friend. She grew up on the South Aspect. She attended Hyde Park Excessive Faculty and Grinnell School in Iowa. She was often known as her neighborhood tomboy with a “spirited and fearless persona,” in line with her household’s assertion.
Her father, a Prepare dinner County circuit decide, presided over the trial for the Chicago “Black Sox” game-fixing scandal wherein eight White Sox gamers accused of throwing the 1919 World Sequence had been indicted on fraud fees, and finally acquitted.
“We plan to have fun her life on the library later to honor her significance to town as a person who was loving, enjoyable, deep, in addition to being in possession of a steely inside,” her daughter Gigi Pritzker Pucker instructed the Solar-Occasions.
“In any case, she was a South Aspect lady who was the daughter of a Chicago decide who taught her a way of justice and equity and a transparent sense of morality,” Pucker added. “However above all, she was enjoyable and beloved to chortle and had no bother telling folks the place she stood. We adored her.”
Mrs. Pritzker met Jay Pritzker whereas on trip. Their households owned lake homes close to one another in Eagle River, Wisconsin. They married in August 1947.
Mayor Harold Washington appointed Mrs. Pritzker to the Chicago Public Library Board in 1984. She served because the board’s president and led the hassle to construct the Harold Washington Library Middle within the Loop, which opened in 1991. She was additionally the founding chair of the Chicago Public Library Basis.
Mrs. Pritzker and Jay Pritzker, each followers of structure, based the Pritzker Structure Prize in 1979. Mrs. Pritzker performed a task in commissioning architect Frank Gehry to design the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.
Pucker spoke to the Solar-Occasions about her mom when Mrs. Pritzker turned 100 in 2023.
“My mom is way beloved, nonetheless with it, and sharp as a tack for her age, however she has all the time been fairly a personality. That’s what makes her so particular,” she mentioned.
Mrs. Pritzker performed Ms. Pac-Man a number of nights every week. As a young person, she carried a pocket knife in a pair of shoes. And when her physician mentioned they needed to deal with her smoking, she replied, “Let’s not!”
“Mom is the best factor on the planet,” Pucker instructed the Solar-Occasions.
Along with her daughter, Mrs. Pritzker is survived by her sons — Tom, John, Dan — together with 14 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Their daughter Nancy died in 1972.
Providers can be personal. In lieu of flowers, her household requests donations be made in her honor to the Chicago Public Library Basis or the Nancy Pritzker Laboratory at Stanford College.
