She moved mountains
Jane Byrne stormed into office, beating the Machine and shattering the glass ceiling
In the end, former Mayor Jane M. Byrne knew the city she loved— but that almost forgot her— loved her back.
A year ago, the legacy of Byrne, the city’s only female mayor, was all but a footnote assigned to the dustbin of history.
But not so Friday, when Byrne died peacefully in her home after a week of hospice care, surrounded by her family.
“My mother was able to look out the window at the city she loved and finally know it had not forgotten her,” said Kathy Byrne, the mayor’s only child.
“She could see the Water Tower, an old family landmark, which will now be included in the park to be renamed in her honor.
“Until she became so weak recently and we knew she would not live much longer, Mother loved hearing and got a kick out of the traffic reports on the radio mentioning the newly renamed Jane Byrne Interchange,” Byrne said.
“It had all made her so happy . . . to know that the city she loved also loved her.
“She was receiving tons of mail from people who wanted her to know how much she was appreciated, and she felt so blessed these last months when it became apparent her work had been validated by her beloved city.
“The last week of her life was peaceful, but she had gotten to a place when we knew there was no more need for rehab.
“Her life had come full circle and she had been so happy that the city she loved had remembered to honor her.
“She was just full of joy over the response she was
“SHE FELT SO BLESSED THESE LAST MONTHS WHEN IT BECAME APPARENT HER WORK HAD BEEN VALIDATED BY HER BELOVED CITY.”
KATHY BYRNE, daughter
getting from the stories about her legacy.”
Frail and ill for years, Byrne had turned 81 recently . . . “although she thought she had hoodwinked everybody into thinking she was a year younger,” Kathy Byrne said.
Jane Byrne broke the glass ceiling decades ago — when women only had pebbles to pitch. But until recently it was a safe bet no schoolkid in Chicago knew her name.
When the city placed stones emblazoned with names of famous women near public buildings in 1993, Byrne didn’t even get a rock.
It is hard to believe I once worked as Byrne’s press secretary for a very short period of time in 1979. She was strong, determined and smart— but we were mismatched, and I needed to be on the reporter’s side of the pencil. Taking bullets out of Jane’s gun wasn’t easy before her notorious morning hallway press conferences.
But Byrne was fascinating, and when she slammed that bottle of pink nail polish down on her City Hall desk, people listened.
Timing can be everything . . . and in this case the city had time to finally honor the memory of a woman who felt she had been erased until Gov. Pat Quinn, Ald. Ed Burke (14th) and Mayor Rahm Emanuel stepped up to the plate.
I’m just sorry she won’t get to see the lilacs, tulips and roses— her favorite flowers— bloom in the spring after theWater Tower park is finally renamed
Jane M. Byrne Plaza.
A funeral note . . .
Former Mayor Jane Byrne’s funeral services will beMonday at St. Vincent de Paul Parish, 1010W. Webster Ave., where her grandparents were founding parishioners. The wake will be from 9 to 11 a.m., with aMass immediately following.
The Emerald Society’s bagpipers will play at the funeral and at Byrne’s grave, thanks to an offer to the family from Thomas J. Cody, a longtime member of the society, also known as the Irish American Police Association.
Byrne gave the group $5,000 in 1982 after bagpipers had to be brought in from New York to play at a slain Chicago police officer’s funeral. The $5,000— from the mayor’s own pocket— was an appreciated kickstart, and the group has never forgotten it, Cody said.