Beloved March Madness icon Sister Jean dies at 106

(CHICAGO) — Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the team chaplain for the Loyola University Chicago basketball team who became a national celebrity during the school’s 2018 underdog March Madness run, has died at 106.

The university confirmed her death in a statement on social media.

“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,” the university said in a statement.

In an announcement last month, just a month after her 106th birthday, the university said Schmidt was retiring and stepping back from official duties at the school.

In a letter to students and other members of the university community sent on her birthday in August, Schmidt said she was unable to travel to campus to celebrate due to a “bad summer cold and other health issues.”

She wrote, “That makes me very sad, but you can still celebrate,” and encouraged students to “make new friends. Talk to your old friends. Enjoy your move-in and your preparations for class.”

Schmidt became a nationally recognized figure during the 2018 NCAA men’s basketball tournament, when Loyola University Chicago, which entered March Madness as an 11-seed, reached the Final Four in San Antonio, Texas.

Schmidt’s presence courtside — always adorned in the team’s maroon and gold colors — and her enthusiastic cheering on of the team drew attention from fans and national broadcasters.

“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.”

Born Dolores Bertha Schmidt in San Francisco on Aug. 21, 1919, she joined the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1937, taking the name Sister Jean Dolores, according to a university obituary.

A basketball player in her youth, Schmidt later became a nun, then a grade school teacher, and started girls’ sports programs before her time on the college basketball sidelines.

She came to the university’s Lake Shore campus in 1961 to teach at Mundelein College, which affiliated with Loyola in 1991.

She first became an academic adviser for the men’s basketball team in 1994 and later became the team chaplain.

She released a memoir in 2023, “Wake Up with Purpose!: What I’ve Learned in My First Hundred Years.”

In a 2023 interview with ABC News, Schmidt said, “I think sports [are] very important because they help develop life skills, and during those life skills you’re also talking about faiths and purpose.”