Martyl Reinsdorf passes away at 85

CHICAGO -- Martyl Reinsdorf, spouse of Chicago Bulls and White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, died peacefully on Monday afternoon following a long illness and surrounded by family at her home in Paradise Valley, Ariz.

Reinsdorf, 85, was renowned as a fine arts creator of colorful Cloisonné jewelry who also designed five of the six Bulls NBA championship rings and was involved with creating the other. She also designed the White Sox World Series championship ring in 2005, which she talked about in an interview around the time of the ring ceremony in April '06.

Martyl joked that she had “25 years to think of the ring,” her husband's ownership tenure with the South Side franchise at the time, which has now reached 40 years as of 2021. Creative limitations also existed because of the White Sox logo, as she explained.

“To tell you the truth, there's not a lot to do with the S-O-X [logo]," Martyl said with a laugh during the 2006 interview. “Any jeweler asked would rather work with a Bull or something like that.

“And the only thing worse or less appealing than 'Sox' is a sock. I had told [my husband] for years the logo didn't lend itself to a really interesting ring.”

Each White Sox ring was made of 14-karat yellow gold, with a 14-karat white gold insert. Every ring contains 95 brilliant diamonds of various sizes, equaling over two karats, and each ring required a separate mold for each player's name. The name and title of the individual went on one side of the ring, along with the White Sox 99-63 record, while the other side featured an engraving reading, "World Champions, 2005, 11-1," representing the 2005 team's playoff record.

As for that White Sox logo crest, which once was thought to be tough to work with, it jumped out brilliantly from the black onyx base stone.

“I think it's the best one she's done,” Jerry Reinsdorf said during his 2006 conversation with the media following the ring ceremony. “I think of all the rings she did, and I loved the Bulls rings, this is the best one.

“It suits my taste. It seems very classy with all the diamonds and the way the 'SOX' jumps out at you.”

Martyl Reinsdorf also was appreciated semi-anonymously by children throughout the world as “Grandma Martyl.”

As “Grandma Martyl,” Reinsdorf quietly created and distributed over one million coloring books, crayons, markers and toys to hospitals, orphanages and shelters across the world, including to survivors of Hurricane Katrina, residents of Ronald McDonald Houses, patients at Lurie Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago and Phoenix Children’s Hospital and young vision-impaired patients at The Spectrios Institute for Low Vision (formerly Deicke Eye Center), to mention only a few of the many institutions that received her care packages.

The customized books and art packets originated in 1999 from coloring pages designed by Reinsdorf initially for her grandchildren.

“The very first coloring book I did was when my granddaughter, Jenny, called and asked me to design a coloring book for her,” Martyl explained several years ago, as included in the White Sox release announcing her passing. “After a few weeks all her cousins and friends and my other grandchildren asked for more coloring books.

“They all loved the books so much I decided to find other children who also might enjoy the books. I decided if I could make a few sick children in the hospital happy, it would be a worthwhile way to share the books I was designing.”

Reinsdorf and her husband were generous supporters of many charities in Chicago, Phoenix, Israel and across the world. She received the 2004 Clarence Troyer Volunteer of the Year Award, and she was recognized in 2011 by American Friends of Hebrew University with the Torch of Learning Award. They had four children: daughter Susan, sons David (deceased), Michael (Nancy) and Jonathan (Holly), and nine grandchildren.

“My mother had such a heart for children,” Michael Reinsdorf said. “The joy she brought through her coloring books made me so proud to be her son. As a father, I loved seeing her being such an involved grandmother with my children. They had so many shared interests and spent time together developing computer programs, creating costumes and starting her coloring book program. These are memories that we all treasure as a family.”

“When others doubted me, my mother recognized and nurtured the potential she saw in me,” Jonathan Reinsdorf said. “She was unyielding in her convictions and driven to help people in need. I hope to pass the torch of this legacy to my children. I only wish my children had been born earlier so that they would have spent more time with her, but they still loved her very much.”

“She was so very selfless and such a good role model to have in my life,” granddaughter Jennifer Reinsdorf said.

Services are private. The family has requested that any donations be directed to The Spectrios Institute for Low Vision at spectrios.org.

“I’ve often said that everyone’s goal in this world should be to make this a better place to live,” said longtime friend and Major League Baseball Commissioner Emeritus, Alan H. “Bud” Selig. “More importantly, it is to help people who in a lot of cases, can’t help themselves.

“Martyl Reinsdorf did that brilliantly. She’s a person you could say unequivocally made the world a better place to live.”