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.

The daughter of the Bears founder and football pioneer, George Halas, she witnessed much of N.F.L. history from a young age, then took the team’s reins in 1983.