CHICAGO — Martyl (MAR-teel) Reinsdorf, spouse of Chicago Bulls and White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, died peacefully Monday afternoon following a long illness and surrounded by family at her home in Paradise Valley, Ariz.
Reinsdorf, 85, was an acclaimed fine arts creator of colorful Cloisonné jewelry who also designed five of the six Bulls NBA Championship rings, was involved with creating the other, and designed the White Sox World Series championship ring in 2005.
Known for her dynamic personality and amazing creativity, 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.