Updated Dec 24, 2025 - News
In memoriam: Chicago luminaries we lost in 2025
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Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
From politics, religion, media and the arts, here are a few of the Chicagoans who died in 2025.
Politics and business

- Gov. Jim Edgar
- Gov. George Ryan
- Jerry "The Iceman" Butler
- Lori Healey
- Jeff Tobolski
- Mike Quinlan
- Thomas Anthony Durkin
- Aaron Jaffe
- Todd MacGillivray
- Brendan Francis McNeill
- Maury Ettleson
Arts and culture

- Tony Fitzpatrick
- George Wendt
- Michael Madsen
- Steve "The Colonel" Cropper
- Joyce Piven
- Pat Finn
- Cindy Pritzker
- Rob Riley
- Bob Wilson
- George Freeman
- Ron Dean
- Chad Willetts
- DJ Commando
- Lynn Hamilton
- Dennis Wolkowicz
- Guy Barile
- Edmund White
- Fred Anzevino
- Michael Sumler
- Shirley Mordine
- Ron Carroll
Sports

- Ryne Sandberg
- Virginia McCaskey
- Steve "Mongo" McMichael
- Bobby Jenks
- Lee Elia
- Dick Jauron
- Jeff Torborg
- Chet Lemon
- George Altman
- David Greenwood
Media

- Renee Ferguson
- Bruce DuMont
- Bruce Sagan
- Margie Korshak
- Harry Teinowitz
- Lorna Gladstone
- Earl Moses
- Joe "JoBo" Colborn
- Bruce Dold
- Michael Miner
- Charlie Kirk
- Andrea Hanis
- Gary Deeb
- Jack Helbig
- Yvonne Zipter
- Steve Lasker
- Jim Johnson
- Rory Spears
Activism, public service and faith leaders

- Sister Rosemary Connelly
- José "Cha Cha" Jiménez
- Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt
- Lori Cannon
- Angela Piazza Turley
- Tuyet Le
- Sister Patricia M. Murphy
- Martin E. Marty
- Krystal Rivera
- Rev. Dr. David Gregg
- Jim Maurer
- Juju Lien
History makers and educators

- James Lovell
- Richard Garwin
- Allen Sanderson
- José Torres
