12:36 a.m. CST, November 26, 2011
City flags were lowered to half staff and memorial bunting placed over the entrance to City Hall on Friday in silent tribute to Maggie Daley as the family of Chicago's late former first lady scheduled a public wake and funeral to honor her life.
Mrs. Daley, 68, whose life was praised from the White House to the schoolhouse for her charitable and cultural contributions to the city, died Thursday evening with former Mayor Richard Daley and family at her side. She had been treated for metastatic breast cancer since 2002.
The Daley family announced a public wake would be held from noon until 10 p.m. on Sunday in the Preston Bradley Hall of the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph St. A public funeral Mass was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Monday at Old St. Patrick's Church, 700 W. Adams St.
The Rev. Jack Wall, pastor emeritus at Old St. Pat's and a longtime Daley family friend, said it was appropriate that Mrs. Daley died on the evening of Thanksgiving because it was such an important holiday for her family and families across Chicago.
"One of the things I think all of us as Chicagoans appreciated about Maggie is her deep sense of family. She was very conscious of all of our families," said Wall, noting that it was Mrs. Daley who made her husband promise to reserve Sundays for private family activities while serving as mayor.
"As the sun set, the day ended and people were finishing their meals, she breathed her last. And I have a very special feeling that she was saying 'You don't have to call anybody up, because you're all with your family on this day and we're all together as a city, surrounded by the people we love the most, and sharing this time together,'" Wall said.
The Daley family will attend the wake at the Cultural Center.
Tributes from the city's political community cited her efforts involving the arts, education and women's health care.
"The (former) mayor was a bricks and mortar kind of guy, and she definitely helped him see the importance of the cultural end of things in shaping the city's image, its look and reputation," said Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th, who chairs the City Council Committee on Special Events, Cultural Affairs and Recreation.
"And she saw the importance of cultural institutions in improving the lives of Chicagoans, especially teenagers," Burnett said.
"Maggie was an extraordinary woman who dedicated her life to public service. While she will be sorely missed, her initiatives on behalf of Chicago's youth live on as national models for how to create environments for children to learn and grow outside the classroom," President Barack Obama said in a statement.
Noting her efforts to keep the family's private life out of the public eye, Obama said, "Maggie's commitment to the children and people of Chicago was surpassed only by her devotion to her family."
Mrs. Daley, 68, whose life was praised from the White House to the schoolhouse for her charitable and cultural contributions to the city, died Thursday evening with former Mayor Richard Daley and family at her side. She had been treated for metastatic breast cancer since 2002.
The Daley family announced a public wake would be held from noon until 10 p.m. on Sunday in the Preston Bradley Hall of the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph St. A public funeral Mass was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Monday at Old St. Patrick's Church, 700 W. Adams St.
The Rev. Jack Wall, pastor emeritus at Old St. Pat's and a longtime Daley family friend, said it was appropriate that Mrs. Daley died on the evening of Thanksgiving because it was such an important holiday for her family and families across Chicago.
"One of the things I think all of us as Chicagoans appreciated about Maggie is her deep sense of family. She was very conscious of all of our families," said Wall, noting that it was Mrs. Daley who made her husband promise to reserve Sundays for private family activities while serving as mayor.
"As the sun set, the day ended and people were finishing their meals, she breathed her last. And I have a very special feeling that she was saying 'You don't have to call anybody up, because you're all with your family on this day and we're all together as a city, surrounded by the people we love the most, and sharing this time together,'" Wall said.
The Daley family will attend the wake at the Cultural Center.
Tributes from the city's political community cited her efforts involving the arts, education and women's health care.
"The (former) mayor was a bricks and mortar kind of guy, and she definitely helped him see the importance of the cultural end of things in shaping the city's image, its look and reputation," said Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th, who chairs the City Council Committee on Special Events, Cultural Affairs and Recreation.
"And she saw the importance of cultural institutions in improving the lives of Chicagoans, especially teenagers," Burnett said.
"Maggie was an extraordinary woman who dedicated her life to public service. While she will be sorely missed, her initiatives on behalf of Chicago's youth live on as national models for how to create environments for children to learn and grow outside the classroom," President Barack Obama said in a statement.
Noting her efforts to keep the family's private life out of the public eye, Obama said, "Maggie's commitment to the children and people of Chicago was surpassed only by her devotion to her family."
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