Ann Lurie was a nurse who became one of Chicago’s best known and most generous philanthropists.
- Died: June 24, 2024 (Who else died on June 24?)
- Details of death: Died of brain cancer at the age of 79.
- We invite you to share condolences for Ann Lurie in our Guest Book.
Ann Lurie’s legacy
Born in Florida, Ann Lurie studied nursing at the University of Florida and planned to join the Peace Corps – she was an anti-war protestor during the Vietnam War – but ended up going into nursing while her then-husband finished law school. The pair divorced, and Lurie moved to Chicago in 1973, where she entered pediatric nursing at Children’s Memorial Hospital. She married again, this time to real estate businessman Robert H. Lurie.
When Robert Lurie died in 1990 of colon cancer, Ann Lurie was left with a fortune of some $425 million. The pair already ran a charitable organization, the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Foundation, so she decided to focus on giving their money away. She became one of Chicago’s best known and most generous philanthropists, donating to healthcare facilities, social services, the arts, and more. She often gave via the foundation, which was formed in 1986 prior to her husband’s passing. The organization devoted millions to Lurie Garden at Millennium Park in Chicago, earmarked $100 million to build the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago at Streeterville, funded the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, and other charitable efforts.
Individually, Lurie was a Northwestern University life trustee who gave over $60 million to the college. She gifted $37 million to the University of Michigan, was founder of Africa Infectious Disease Village Clinics, Inc., created an annual Christmas party for low-income children at St. Vincent DePaul Center, backed the creation of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, funded PAWS Lurie Family Spay/Neuter Clinic and the Joan and Irving J. Harris Dance Theater, plus much more.
Lurie is also an inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and created the $100,000 annual Lurie Prize. She won a slew of awards for her giving, including the Grant Goodrich Achievement Award, the Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter Award, and the Anti-Defamation League’s Lifetime of Achievement Award, among others.
On financing the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital:
“Working [at Children’s Memorial] really bonded me to the level of care. I was extremely impressed. But I’ve never been what I would call a stagnant person. I would never have been happy there with the same job for 20 or 30 years. I toured [the new] Children’s yesterday. I feel really good about what’s going to happen at that hospital.”—Chicago Magazine, 2010
Tributes to Ann Lurie
Full obituary: Chicago Sun-Times
