Ann Lurie, one of the most prolific and visible philanthropists in Chicago’s history, died Monday. She was 79.
Ms. Lurie died of “complications from a recent illness,” a family spokesperson said in a statement released by Northwestern University.
Well known for her generosity, she gave millions to the university, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Greater Chicago Food Depository, PAWS Chicago and several other organizations both in the city and beyond, according to a statement from Northwestern.
“Her unwavering dedication and generous contributions to our organization touched countless lives and will continue to be a source of inspiration to us all, and her absence will be deeply felt,” Dr. Tom Shanley, the president of Lurie Children’s, said in a statement from the hospital.
Ms. Lurie moved to Chicago in 1973 to work as a pediatric intensive care nurse at Children’s Memorial Hospital, the hospital that would eventually bear her name.
She later met her late husband, Robert H. Lurie, a successful commercial real estate businessman. The two had six children together before his death in 1990.
Ms. Lurie dedicated herself to many causes in health care, education, social services and the arts, in Chicago and around the world. She was president of Lurie Investments and president and treasurer of the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Foundation.
What started with her husband undergoing treatment at the Northwestern’s cancer center became an ongoing relationship with the university. Ms. Lurie gave the university $60 million over the years and was a Northwestern University life trustee. She also endowed the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and the Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center.
“Ann had a tremendous impact on Northwestern through her generosity, her leadership and her service,” said Northwestern President Michael Schill in the university’s statement. “As a trustee, she helped propel the University and our medical research to ever greater heights. She touched so many lives, both at Northwestern and well beyond.”
In 2007, Ms. Lurie donated $100 million to Children’s Memorial Hospital, which helped build the hospital’s Streeterville location now called Lurie Children’s, the hospital said in a statement. That donation remains the largest charitable investment in the hospital’s 142-year history.
Her experiences as a former employee and as a parent of children treated at the hospital inspired her donation, according to the statement.
“I hope that this gift will both provide critical funding for the new hospital and serve as an inspiration for others to make a commitment and give as they are able,” she said in 2007, according to Northwestern.
“Our future depends on our children and the generations of children after them. I feel that we have an obligation to be supportive of advances in pediatric medical care that will ensure the health of those children.”
Ms. Lurie also permanently endowed a Christmas party for children in need and low-income seniors at St. Vincent DePaul Center. She helped finance the launch of the Greater Chicago Food Depository. She provided funds for the Lurie Garden at Millennium Park, Joan and Irving J. Harris Dance Theater and the PAWS Lurie Family Spay/Neuter Clinic.
She also founded and served as president of Africa Infectious Disease Village Clinics, Inc., a charity that provided public health services to rural communities in southeastern Kenya until 2012.
Ms. Lurie grew up in Florida, the only child of a single mother, according to Northwestern. She earned a nursing degree from the University of Florida and worked in public health before moving to Chicago.
Ms. Lurie remarried in 2014 to filmmaker Mark Muheim, in Jackson, Wyoming. She is survived by her husband, her six children, 16 grandchildren and Muheim’s two sons.
Services are pending.
