Marian F Pritzker

Marian “Cindy” Friend Pritzker was the wife of Hyatt Hotels founder Jay Pritzker and mother of their five children. She was also the aunt of Gov. JB Pritzker, headed the Chicago Public Library Board and co-founded the Pritzker Architecture Prize. She died at the age of 101 on Saturday March 15 2025. She headed the Chicago Public Library Board and with her husband co-founded the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Andy Warhol even painted her portrait, which now hangs in the Chicago Athletic Association hotel’s rooftop lounge that carries her name. Mrs. Pritzker married Jay Pritzker after they met as teenagers, and the two remained together until he died from a heart attack in 1999. Jay Pritzker built the Hyatt Hotels chain and helped develop his family’s multibillion-dollar business empire. Mrs. Pritzker met Jay Pritzker while on vacation. Their families owned lake houses near each other in Eagle River, Wisconsin. They married in August 1947. In addition to her daughter Gigi Pritzker Pucker, Mrs. Pritzker is survived by her sons — Tom, John, Dan — along with 14 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Her daughter Nancy died in 1972. Mrs. Pritzker was born in Chicago on Dec. 15, 1923, to Cook County Judge Hugo Friend and Sadie Friend. Her father, a Cook County circuit judge, presided over the trial of the Chicago “Black Sox” game-fixing scandal in which eight White Sox players accused of throwing the 1919 World Series were indicted on fraud charges and ultimately acquitted.