Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, beloved nun who inspired Loyola’s NCAA Tournament runs, dies at 106
Sister Jean has a hearty laugh in her office on the campus of Loyola University in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood on Feb. 8, 2023. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
By Shannon Ryan | Chicago Tribune
UPDATED: October 10, 2025 at 12:13 PM CDT
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, a nun who became a national sports icon for cheering on the Loyola men’s basketball teams during their NCAA Tournament runs, died Thursday, the university said. She was 106.
Sister Jean, as seemingly everyone on the Rogers Park campus and later the sports world knew her, had served as the team chaplain since 1994 until her retirement this summer. For decades she was a fixture at Ramblers games, offering pregame prayers with players and fans.
She became nationally adored as Loyola made a seemingly miraculous Final Four run in 2018. Her wheelchair was pushed onto the court after each victory, and Loyola players greeted her with gentle hugs as they exited the floor.
“She just lived an amazing life,” Ramblers coach Drew Valentine said Friday at the Gentile Center that she called home. “Getting to know Sister Jean over the course of those years, I know in this situation she’d want to be honored and celebrated versus everyone being somber.”
Valentine — an assistant coach for the Final Four team before being promoted to head coach in 2021 — said Sister Jean “would want this to bring people together but in an uplifting way, very similar to the 2018 Final Four run, when so many different Loyola alumni came together.”
“She was a big supporter of that,” he said. “That’s why her office was in the student center. She wanted to impact people daily. That’s how I will always remember her, the light that she was and how she always brought people together to celebrate a common thing: our university and our basketball program.”
In a statement, Loyola President Mark C. Reed called Sister Jean “an invaluable source of wisdom and grace for generations of students, faculty and staff.”
“While we feel grief and a sense of loss, there is great joy in her legacy,” Reed said. “Her presence was a profound blessing for our entire community and her spirit abides in thousands of lives. In her honor, we can aspire to share with others the love and compassion Sister Jean shared with us.”
At 5 feet tall, Sister Jean stood out at Loyola games, often wearing a letterman’s jacket or a maroon and gold scarf along with a pair of Nikes. She lived in a freshman dormitory on campus and had an office in the student center, where young adults struggling with studies or homesickness often would pop by for a chat.
She also was competitive.
When former coach Porter Moser was hired in 2011, Sister Jean left an envelope on his desk filled with scouting reports. She would email players words of encouragement after games — but also advice on how to improve.
Achieving fame in her 98th year of life was “fun,” she said. Sports celebrities such as Charles Barkley, Bill Walton and Dick Vitale requested a chance to meet her. Fans frequently approached her for selfies. She made headlines nationally — and as she was often quick to remind reporters, also “internationally” — and was interviewed on “Good Morning America” and CNN.
The 2018 run was Loyola’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1985 and its first Final Four since the 1963 national championship. The Ramblers qualified for the tournament again in 2021 and 2022, reaching the Sweet 16 in 2021.
But Sister Jean was no newcomer to sports.
She was born Aug. 21, 1919, in San Francisco to a family of sports fans. During high school from 1933-37, she played on the girls basketball team. For girls at that time, the court was divided into three sections, and only the forwards could shoot.
“I was a very short girl, so I didn’t shoot,” she told the Tribune in February 2018.
In 1939, Sister Jean said, a rule change allowed girls to play half-court. She later became a teacher and coach.
“At noon, during lunch on the playground, I would have the boys play the girls,” she said. “I told them, ‘I know you have to hold back because you play full-court, but we need to make our girls strong.’ And they did make them strong.”
Sister Jean said she knew she wanted to become a nun in third grade when a teacher inspired her. After high school, she left for Iowa to join the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary convent. In 1941 she returned to teach in California, where her students included actor/comedian Bob Hope’s children.
An undated photo of Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, who worked at Mundelein College from 1961 to 1991. Sister Jean became a fixture at Loyola Ramblers basketball games. (Loyola University Chicago)
In 1961 she accepted a teaching job at Mundelein College, an all-women’s school near Loyola. She attended athletic events at both schools and drove some Mundelein teams to competitions.
Mundelein merged with Loyola in 1991, and Sister Jean retired from the education department around that time. She told the Tribune she served as a “booster shooter,” checking up on athletes’ studies but not acting as an adviser.
The basketball team’s chaplain retired and asked if she would like to take the position.
“I wanted to be their friend, first of all, and be sure to encourage them,” she told the Tribune. “They know they can talk to me any time they want.”
Sister Jean missed few games during her tenure as chaplain, though she was sidelined for nine home games during the 2017-18 season after breaking her hip. Even in the hospital, she tracked the games online and emailed players.
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt says her pregame prayer in the huddle before a Loyola Ramblers basketball game March 2, 2013, at the Gentile Center. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
She insisted on traveling with the Ramblers to watch them win the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Louis that season and then trekked to NCAA Tournament sites in Dallas, Atlanta and San Antonio.
Sister Jean said shortly before her 99th birthday the following August that she had a health setback with her right leg.
Her birthday celebration was attended by students, athletic staff members and coaches at the campus student center. Her cake included 99 candles, and Moser presented her with a No. 99 Ramblers jersey.
Sister Jean celebrated her 100th birthday in 2019. Her secret to a long life?
“I eat well and sleep well,” she said at the time. “And hopefully I pray well.”
Shannon Ryan is a former Chicago Tribune sports writer. Tribune sports columnist Paul Sullivan contributed.
Originally Published: October 10, 2025 at 12:21 AM CDT |
