(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago and the world were in mourning after prominent philanthropist Ann Lurie died at the age of 79 on Monday.
Lurie worked in public health and moved in 1973 to Chicago, where she served as a pediatric intensive care nurse and eventually married real estate developer Robert Lurie.
Together, Ann and Robert spent years giving charitable gifts to all types of organizations around Chicago and the world, including millions to parts of Kenya and Ethiopia. In 2007 — nearly two decades after Robert died from colon cancer — Ann donated $100 million to help build Lurie Children’s Hospital in Streeterville.
Family members said she died at Northwestern Hospital, where she was receiving hospice care while suffering from glioblastoma.
Dr. Tom Shanley, president and CEO of Lurie Children’s Hospital, said in a statement that they will “forever be grateful to Ann for creating a legacy that allows us to provide the highest quality, most compassionate care for patients and families across Chicagoland and beyond.”
“Ann’s life inspires us all to embrace the power of her mantra to ‘do a good deed daily,’” Shanley said.
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