Final Farewell Coming For Ron Santo
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicagoans will say their final farewell Friday to Cubs legend Ron Santo.
LISTEN: Newsradio 780's Bob Roberts Reports
Podcast
As CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports, the funeral service begins at 10 a.m. at Holy Name Cathedral, 735 N. State St. A funeral procession will follow, and will pass right by Wrigley Field.
SLIDESHOW: Remembering Cubs great Ron Santo
Ernie "Mr. Cub" Banks was present to pay his respect, as were former Cubs pitchers Milt Pappas and Kerry Wood, and current Cubs pitcher Sean Marshall. Francis Cardinal George was also among those who paid his respects.
Only limited public seating will be available for the funeral.
But afterward, a procession will leave the cathedral and head north on State Street, east on Chicago Avenue, south on Michigan Avenue to the Wrigley Building at the Chicago River where it will turn around, pause in front of the Tribune Tower where WGN radio is located.
The procession will then head north on Michigan Avenue to inner Lake Shore Drive, then west on Division Street, north on LaSalle Boulevard, north on Clark Street, north on Sheffield Avenue, west on Addison Street followed by a lap around Wrigley Field.
Here is a map of the funeral route.
Santo spent 15 years in Major League Baseball – playing third base for the Cubs from 1960 to 1973, and one more season with the White Sox in 1974. He joined WGN-AM 720 radio as a Cubs color commentator in 1990, and had planned to return to his post there next season.
Santo was a longtime diabetes patient and lost two legs to amputation, but he helped raise millions of dollars to support Juvenile Diabetes research. He died of complications from bladder cancer in Arizona on Dec. 3.
