Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt found herself in the spotlight during Loyola’s improbable trip to the Final Four in the Alamo City.
SAN ANTONIO — Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the iconic Loyola University basketball team chaplain who captured sports fans’ hearts during the 2018 Final Four in San Antonio, has died. She was 106.
The university confirmed “Sister Jean” died Thursday. No specific cause of death was provided.
Sister Jean had been the men’s basketball team chaplain for more than 30 years, but she found herself in the spotlight during Loyola’s trip to the Final Four during the 2018 NCAA Tournament. She was spotted cheering courtside throughout the Ramblers’ improbable run.
That year’s team surprised the country by winning its way through four rounds to make it to the Final Four alongside national powers Villanova, Kansas and Michigan in the Alamo City.
Sister Jean traveled with the team to San Antonio, as usual, and was seated near courtside as the Ramblers ultimately lost to the Michigan Wolverines in the national semifinal round.
“This is the most fun I’ve had in my life,” she told reporters at a San Antonio news conference before the Final Four began. “We have a little slogan that we say (with the team): Worship, work, win.”
Sister Jean’s passing will be most felt among the players and students whom she supported over decades of service.
“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.”
Because of her noteworthy appearance during the 2018 NCAA Tournament, Schmidt took on a folk hero role in the public’s imagination.
She has been featured by newspapers and TV stations across America. Her NCAA news conference, she was told, had more journalists than Tom Brady drew at the Super Bowl. Her likeness appears on socks, bobbleheads, even a Lego statue at her gallery in Loyola’s art museum.
In 2023, she published a memoir about her life, offering stories and spiritual guidance. In “Wake Up with Purpose: What I’ve Learned in My First Hundred Years,” Schmidt wrote about staying mentally young by adapting to new technology and being around younger people.
“I guess there aren’t too many 103-year-old nuns using iPads these days – there aren’t too many 103-year-olds, period,” she wrote. “But I’m pretty comfortable with modern technology. I’ve always said, ‘If you’re not moving forward, you’re going to get left behind real quick.’ Adaptability is my superpower.”
The news comes just weeks after Schmidt retired because of health concerns. The school’s student newspaper, The Loyola Phoenix, announced her retirement earlier this month.
The university said it would announce funeral and visitation details sometime soon.
More from Sister Jean’s 2018 San Antonio visit
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