LINCOLN PARK — Mourners gathered at St. Vincent de Paul Church Monday morning to give their final goodbyes to former Mayor Jane Byrne.
"Through it all, she stayed true to her vision, to make the 'City That Works' work better for everyone," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. He called her "dogged, determined and dignified," adding, "We are a better city today because of her life."
Her daughter, Kathy Byrne, praised her "tenacity, confidence," as well as her "empathy," but also added, "She had no patience, none."
Yet her impatience came from a desire to better the city, she added. "She loved every minute as mayor," Kathy Byrne told the congregation. "She loved and knew the city and its people as no one ever has, and she was privileged every day to serve it."
"She was tough, though. She was feisty," said Monsignor Kenneth Velo. He traced her life from being "a young, young widow with a little girl" to her term as Chicago's first and only woman to serve as mayor and beyond.
He cited how Byrne "welcomed those of gay persuasion" and drew attention to violence in public housing by briefly moving into the Cabrini-Green projects.
"Was she perfect? No. Are you? Am I?" Velo said. "But she loved the City of Chicago, and she was proud she was mayor of the City of Chicago."
Byrne died Friday at age 81. She served as mayor from 1979 to 1983. She beat the Democratic Party machine and Mayor Michael Bilandic, but was defeated four years later in a three-way Democratic Primary with soon-to-be Mayor Harold Washington and Richard M. Daley. She never again held public office.
Among those arriving at the church at 1010 W. Webster Ave. for visitation ahead of the funeral were Emanuel, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Cook County Commissioner John Daley, City Clerk Susana Mendoza and Aldermen Bob Fioretti (2nd), Ray Suarez (31st), Jason Ervin (28th) and Tim Cullerton (38th). Wrigley Field staple Ronnie "Woo-Woo" Wickers was present in his full Cubs uniform and knelt before Byrne's casket to pray for her.
Daley said he was there to represent his family, adding that his brother, former Mayor Richard M. Daley, who had a long-running political feud with Byrne, was out of town.
Even Velo did not mention the Daleys by name, saying only that Byrne's rise in city politics was brought on when she "caught the eye of Richard J.," Mayor Richard J. Daley, who placed her as a city commissioner.
Also present were Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, who's running against Emanuel and Fioretti, political adviser David Axelrod and a smattering of firefighters in union jackets, 34 years after the firefighter strike that was one of the biggest black marks on Byrne's mayoral record.
Ald. Edward Burke (14th), who also attended the funeral, said on Byrne's passing that she could have been vice president but for the political fallout from the firefighters' strike.
Former Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd) showed up in one of her trademark hats, black and wide-brimmed for the occasion.
Kathy Byrne greeted those paying respects at the former mayor's casket, which was draped in a Chicago flag. Kathy Byrne's son, Willy Vogt, joined his mother in greeting the mourners. Both spoke along with Emanuel.
Kathy Byrne went on to to add something she thought she'd "never in my life" say, thanking the Chicago media for their coverage of her mother the last few months of her life, when she was honored by the city, with the renaming of a park at Water Tower Place, as well as the renaming of the "Spaghetti Bowl" Circle Interchange for her by Gov. Pat Quinn.
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