Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, a legend in the Loyola University and wider Chicago community, died Oct. 9 at 106.
“Sister Jean, our beloved friend and inspiration went home to the Lord today,” said in a statement. “She nurtured the mind and spirit of her students and all who came to know her with dedication, a firm belief in our faith and a sharp sense of humor. May she rest in the peace she so richly deserves.”
“In many roles at Loyola over the course of more than 60 years, Sister Jean was an invaluable source of wisdom and grace for generations of students, faculty, and staff,” Loyola President Mark C. Reed said. “While we feel grief and a sense of loss, there is great joy in her legacy. 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.”
Sister Jean became a national celebrity in 2018, when the Loyola Ramblers men’s basketball team made a run to the NCAA Final Four. As the team chaplain, at age 98, she was there on the sidelines for every game, wearing her personalized Nike sneakers and her Loyola maroon and gold scarf, not just praying for and encouraging the players, but taking time to speak with everyone who wanted to speak with her.
She had already been inducted into Loyola University’s sports Hall of Fame the year before, after more than two decades as the men’s basketball team chaplain, a duty she took seriously. Former Loyola basketball coach Porter Moser, who took the team to the Final Four in 2018, told reporters that when he arrived on campus, he received scouting reports on all his players from Sister Jean, and she has said she would email players after every game, offering praise and suggestions for improvement.
When Sister Jean turned 100, the city and Loyola community celebrated for a month. There were parties, a Mass, a papal blessing from Pope Francis, an address to incoming freshmen, an exhibit at the university’s museum of art and even a Sister Jean Lego statue. On her actual birthday, Aug. 21, the university celebrated “Sister Jean Day” with an event at the university’s Damen Student Center that included tributes to the nun, a cake and the singing of “Happy Birthday.”
In 2022, Sister Jean published her bestselling memoir, “Wake Up With Purpose!: What I’ve Learned in My First Hundred Years,” written with journalist Seth Davis.
Born in San Francisco on Aug. 21, 1919, Dolores Bertha Schmidt entered the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1937 as a postulant and was formally received as a novice a year later. She made her final vows in 1945, and was sent back to teach in Catholic elementary schools in California, where she coached girls’ basketball, among other sports.
She arrived in Chicago to teach education at Mundelein College, the women’s college operated by the BVM sisters, and over the next three decades held a variety of faculty and administrative positions. When Mundelein became affiliated with the adjoining Loyola University Chicago in 1991, she became an associate dean and academic adviser for the university.
Three years later, when she was considering stepping back from her duties, the university asked her to work with the men’s and women’s basketball teams as an academic adviser. Two years later, she became the chaplain of the men’s basketball team.