Sister Jean dies at 106: Legendary Loyola basketball chaplain and March Madness icon passes away

Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the former Loyola Ramblers team chaplain that became a famous figure during the men’s basketball team’s 2018 run to the Final Four, has died at 106 years old, the university announced Thursday night in a statement:

“Loyola University Chicago is greatly saddened to confirm the death of Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM. This is a tremendous loss of someone who touched the lives of so many people. We appreciate everyone’s thoughts & prayers during this difficult time.”

Sister Jean served Loyola’s students for more than six decades, retiring just last month. She was a common sight at Loyola sporting events, and garnered national fame when her No. 11-seeded Ramblers embarked on a Cinderella run in the NCAA Tournament, upsetting No. 6 Miami, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 7 Nevada and No. 9 Kansas State before finally falling to No. 3 Michigan in the Final Four.

Sister Jean was born Dolores Bertha Schmidt on August 21, 1919, and she joined the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1937. She began teaching at Mundelein College in 1961, and found her way to Loyola University Chicago when Mundelein merged with Loyola in 1991. Sister Jean became the chaplain for the men’s basketball team in 1994.

“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 in a statement. “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.” 

While Sister Jean will be remembered by sports fans for her work with the Loyola basketball team, she was much, much more than that. She offered spiritual support for students at the university, held weekly prayer groups for students and started a program called SMILE (Students Moving Into the Lives of the Elderly). This project helped Loyola students reach out to an assisted living community named The Clare, and aimed to “form intergenerational — and meaningful — relationships.”

“That’s being a person for others by just being yourself,” Sister Jean once said. “That’s the way I am. I have to be myself. I tell students that — you’ll see people that you admire, you can do some of the things they do, but you have to be yourself. God made you the person who you are.”