Eleanor "Sis" Daley
| Eleanor "Sis" Daley | |
|---|---|
Daley attending the Saint Patrick's Day parade in Chicago, 1972.
|
|
| Born |
Eleanor Guilfoyle March 4, 1907 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | February 16, 2003 (aged 95) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Stroke |
| Residence | Bridgeport, Chicago, Illinois |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names |
|
| Education | Saint Mary High School |
| Known for | First Lady of Chicago (1955–1976) First Mother of Chicago (1989–2003) |
| Spouse(s) |
Richard J. Daley (m. 1936–76) (his death) |
| Children | |
| Family | Patrick (grandson) |
Eleanor Daley (née Guilfoyle; March 4, 1907 – February 16, 2003), better known as Sis Daley was the wife of former Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley and the mother of former mayor Richard M. Daley. Daley served as first lady of the City of Chicago from her husband's appointing in April 1955 until his death in December 1976, and first mother from April 1989 until her death in February 2003.
Born in the south side Chicago neighborhood of Canaryville in 1907 as Eleanor Guilfoyle to a large Irish family, she met Richard J. Daley at a local ball game. Her brother, Floyd, who was a friend of Daley's, introduced the couple. Their first date was attending a Chicago White Sox game. Daley was a graduate of Saint Mary High School and was a secretary at a local paint company. After a six-year-long courtship, during which her future husband finished law school, they married on June 17, 1936. The Daley's lived in a modest brick bungalow at 3536 South Lowe Street, close to where both had grown up. They had three daughters and four sons, in that order. Their eldest son, Richard M. Daley, was mayor of Chicago from 1989 through 2011. The youngest son, William M. Daley, served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce from 1997-2000. Another son, John P. Daley, is a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners.
Daley was a quiet woman who seldom spoke out on political matters. One exception was her criticism of Boss, the 1971 Mike Royko biography of Mayor Daley portraying the mayor in an unfavorable light. Always fiercely protective of her husband and family, her criticism of the book led to one local retailer leaving the book off its shelves. In 1972, developers had obtained the city's tentative approval of a proposal to tear down the old Chicago Public Library downtown and replace it with a modern office tower. Asked her view of the proposal by a Chicago Tribune reporter, Sis Daley observed that she had used the library as a child, and said of the demolition, "I don't think that would be nice." Soon thereafter, a city commission unanimously voted down the project. Of his wife, the mayor told the press that "She doesn't speak for me and I don't speak for her. She is able to speak for herself very well, whatever she has on her mind." It was said that although her husband may have controlled every aspect of the city's government, she controlled everything inside their house.
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