President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, are extending condolences to the family of James Tyree, a Chicago businessman with deep roots in Obama’s hometown who died Wednesday.

“Jim was a quintessential Chicagoan, a South Side kid from humble roots who worked his way to the top but never left the city behind,” Obama said in a statement Thursday.

Tyree helped lead Sun-Times Media Group Inc. out of bankruptcy. He died of complications from stomach cancer. He was 53.

Obama cited Tyree’s role in rescuing the Sun-Times newspaper, as well as his work with non-profit groups and as a member of the board of the University of Chicago Medical Center, where Mrs. Obama used to work.

Obama said: “He will be sorely missed, but never forgotten.”