CHICAGO (CBS) – Ann Lurie, the prolific philanthropist whose donations benefited medical treatments and research in Chicago and around the world, died Monday at the age of 79 from complications of a recent illness, according to a press release from Northwestern University.
Lurie was born and raised in Florida, where she worked in public health, and moved to Chicago in 1973, where she worked as a pediatric intensive care nurse at the former Children’s Memorial Hospital. She married Bob Lurie, a real estate developer, who died of colon cancer in 1990.
She led the Anne and Robert H. Lurie Foundation, which supported several charities in Chicago and around the world. Such donations include $100 million to build the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, which opened in Streeterville in 2012 and serves more than 200,000 children annually.
“Her unwavering dedication and generous contributions to our organization touched countless lives and will continue to be an inspiration to us all, and her absence will be deeply felt,” said Dr. Tom Shanley, president and CEO of Lurie Children’s, said in a statement. .
She has also served as a life member of the Board of Trustees of Northwestern University, where she has also secured funding for the school’s cancer center and medical research. She has given more than $60 million to Northwestern over the years, the university said.
“Ann had a tremendous impact on Northwestern through her generosity, her leadership and her service,” Northwestern President Michael Schill said in a 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 beyond. My deepest condolences to her family and to so many friends who loved her.”
