CHICAGO – The City of Chicago will join family and friends of Ernie Banks in saying a final farewell today.
The memorial service begins at 10 a.m. at the Fourth Presbyterian Church in the Gold Coast neighborhood.
Governor Bruce Rauner, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, as well as former teammates Fergie Jenkins, Jose Cardenal, Billy Williams and others will be among those in attendance.
Hank Aaron, Joe Torre and Lou Brock are expected to be there.
Tom Ricketts, Chairman of the Chicago Cubs, will attend on behalf of the team.
Banks’ twin sons, Jerry and Joey, will offer personal tributes to their father.
Thousands of fans said their goodbyes to Banks Friday during a public visitation.
Some say they had to pay tribute to their hero just one more time.
Banks would have turned 84 today.
He passed away January 23rd after suffering a heart attack.
After today’s memorial, the funeral procession will pass by Banks’ statue in Daley Plaza and then head north on Lake Shore Drive to Belmont and then head to Wrigley Field, for a final trip around the historic ballpark.
Banks’ statue will be removed from Daley Plaza after today.
Live coverage of Ernie Banks’ memorial will be live on WGN and CLTV beginning at 9:30 a.m. and streaming live on www.wgntv.com as well.