Every time I heard or read the name Pritzker for the last couple of years, it seemed so familiar. That name is often in the news as the current governor in our neighboring state of Illinois is JB Pritzker. Now, the governor and I are on very opposite sides of the political spectrum, as you would correctly assume. But his name seemed so familiar, like I heard it before. The name is distinctive. But why? It’s been bugging me for a long time.
I was thinking last week about my late father. He retired in 1979 after 30 years at Chrysler/AMC and he and mom moved to Florida with my three youngest siblings. During the 1980’s mom would work part time for a firm that provided services for the elderly. I remember my dad telling me that he would occasionally drive a woman around on errands and appointments when she needed him. On the couple occasions he talked to me about it, he would always refer to her by name, Mrs. “So-and-So”. He had also mentioned she was a wealthy widow from Chicago and said the family was in the hotel business. Suddenly, it clicked, Chicago? Illinois? Distinctive name? Wealthy family? Could she have been a Pritzker? Last week, I even asked my younger siblings if they remembered the name of the woman that dad used to drive around. They all said no.
That made me even more curious and led me to look up the Pritzker family. Well, I’ll be! I discovered a Rhoda Pritzker that had lived 10 miles from my parents home. She had married Jack Nicholas Pritzker, who was a great uncle to the current Illinois governor JB Pritzker. The family indeed built the Hyatt hotel chain and family members still have a large holding in the company. Jack and Rhoda bought the home on Casey Key in Florida in 1970. Her husband died in 1979, the year my parents moved To Sarasota.
So, my dad had his little “Driving Miss Daisy” job helping a Pritzker widow. He would drive over to her house when she called. She also wanted her car “exercised” as she didn’t drive. So dad would get her big station wagon out of the garage and off they would go. Mystery solved!
Rhoda Pritzker died in Casey Key in 2007 at the age of 93. Her funeral was held in Chicago. The latest sale of her old house was in 2016 for $1.75 million.
