Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt at the first round game of the NCAA Tournament in Dallas on Thursday, March 15, 2018. / Credit: Lukas Keapproth/Loyola University Chicago
CNA Staff, Oct 10, 2025 / 17:07 pm (CNA).
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the beloved Catholic nun who became known across the country at the age of 98 as the chaplain of the Loyola University Chicago men’s basketball team, died Oct. 9 at the age of 106.
“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,” said Mark C. Reed, Loyola president, 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,” he added.
Sister Jean, as she was more commonly known, was born Dolores Bertha Schmidt on Aug. 21, 1919, to Joseph and Bertha Schmidt. She was raised in a devout Catholic home in San Francisco’s Castro District.
Since the age of 8, Sister Jean had a calling to religious life. In her memoir, published in 2023, she recalled meeting a kind and joyful teacher who belonged to the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM). Admiring this teacher, she would pray every day: “Dear God, help me understand what I should do, but please tell me I should become a BVM sister.”
In 1937, she joined the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and took the name Sister Jean Dolores. In 1991, she joined the staff at Loyola Chicago and three years later became part of the basketball team, first as an academic adviser before transitioning to chaplain.
Sister Jean burst onto the scene when her beloved Ramblers upset the University of Miami in the first round of the 2018 March Madness tournament with a down-to-the-wire three-point basket.
Following this win, Twitter (now X) featured Sister Jean in a Twitter moment, and she received shoutouts from high-profile accounts including ESPN and former President Barack Obama. The New York Times also ran a profile on her.
Sister Jean lead the team in prayer before each game — praying for her players to be safe, for the referees to be fair, and for God’s assistance during the game. She also admitted to praying for the opposing team, but “not as hard.”
In her memoir, she recalled her pregame prayers with the players where she would also get on the microphone at Gentile Arena and offer a prayer for all in attendance.
“Does God really care who wins a basketball game? Maybe he cares more than we think?” she wrote in her memoir.
“If nothing else, I imagine God must laugh sometimes when someone prays to win a game. God sees a lot of horrible stuff going on. Sometimes he needs a good laugh. I’d like to think I give him a chuckle every time I say into that microphone, ‘Amen and go Ramblers!’”
When she turned 100, Loyola Chicago announced a scholarship fund in her honor to support students, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker proclaimed Aug. 21, 2019, “Sister Jean Day” across the state. At 103, the Chicago train station plaza at the Loyola campus was renamed in her honor, with a large sign that read “Home of the World Famous Sister Jean!”
She is survived by her sister-in-law, Jeanne Tidwell, and her niece, Jan Schmidt. Visitation and funeral arrangements will be announced soon by Loyola University.
