Remembering Sister Jean, a Loyola legend on campus and on the sidelines

Answering her calling

Sister Jean’s life began in a humble Catholic family in San Francisco, California. Born Dolores Bertha Schmidt on August 21, 1919, she was the oldest of three children of Joseph and Bertha Schmidt. Though times were hard during the Great Depression, Sister Jean recalled her parents as happy people who encouraged their children to always keep a positive outlook and to appreciate what they had. When talking about her childhood, she would tell stories of playing games with her younger brothers, Edward and Raymond, and spending time with the family’s pet monkey. She’d recall how her lifelong love of sports began to develop, and how the seeds of a devout Catholic faith were planted by her parents. Each time the family left home, they would say a prayer to St. Joseph for a safe return. Prayer was a common part of their life and the foundation of her eventual calling to religious life.

Like many Catholic families, the Schmidts wanted their children to have a faith-based education, and so young Dolores began attending Most Holy Redeemer School. In second grade, she learned the Jesuit motto of Ad majorem Dei gloriam (for the greater glory of God), perhaps foreshadowing her future role in Jesuit education. But it was in the third grade that she discovered her true calling when she first met the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or BVM sisters for short. Her third-grade teacher was a model of the joy, kindness, and devotion embodied by the BVMs, and Dolores Schmidt made up her mind that she too would become a BVM sister. Once her decision was made, she would never waver or question her choice. Sister Jean would later say that when she was encouraged to pray about her vocation as a child, her prayer would be: “Please God tell me what I should do … but please tell me that I am to be a BVM.”

After graduating from St. Paul High School in San Francisco, she embarked on a journey away from her California home to the unfamiliar town of Dubuque, Iowa. For two days and three nights, she traveled with two of her classmates to reach Dubuque, where the BVM motherhouse was located. To become a sister, her journey would have to start here. It was September 1937 when she arrived at the motherhouse to begin a six-month period as a postulant, or candidate, during which she learned more about the community and the process of becoming a sister. It was the moment she had dreamed about since sitting in a third-grade classroom, and on March 19, 1938, it became official. Dolores Schmidt was received into the congregation of the BVMs, taking on the order’s traditional habit and a new religious name: Sister Jean Dolores.

Learning experience

Receiving the habit was only the first step. After making her first vows in 1940, Sister Jean was given her first official assignment: teaching fifth and sixth graders at a Catholic school in Chicago. It was a new experience in an unfamiliar city—though one she’d eventually call home for much of her life—but it began a process of learning and adapting to new situations.

After a short time in Chicago, Sister Jean was assigned to return to her home state to teach at St. Bernard School in Los Angeles. When she arrived there in 1941, the new school building was still under construction, so her classes were taught in the church hall. The bigger challenge, however, came after they moved into the new school. The building was open just one day before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, leading the United States to enter World War II. Tensions were high at the school during the war, and Sister Jean and her fellow teachers needed to be prepared for anything that could happen. Food and blankets had to be kept on hand in case the students couldn’t leave the building, children had to wear indestructible dog tags to identify them in the event of a tragedy, and blackouts sometimes forced everyone to move from the school to the church. But the community persevered, and Sister Jean described it as an experience that brought them closer to each other and to God.

Shortly before the end of the war, on August 15, 1945, Sister Jean returned to Dubuque to profess her final vows, completing her formation as a BVM. The following year she was sent to North Hollywood, California, and was asked to make another adjustment, this time transitioning to teaching eighth grade. At the time, St. Charles was the largest elementary school west of the Rockies, with 900 children enrolled, and at one point Sister Jean was tasked with teaching 86 students in one classroom. Though the student body was diverse, it was not uncommon for children of celebrities to attend the school—including the children of actor Bob Hope, two of whom were students of Sister Jean. She also taught future television game show host Bert Convy, as well as plenty of future priests and sisters, setting the same type of example for her students as her own BVM teachers had done for her.

A new home in Chicago

After serving at another Catholic school in Los Angeles for several years, St. Brendan’s—where she was principal and taught seventh and eighth grade—Sister Jean was assigned to return to Chicago to work at Mundelein College. She had just completed her master’s degree at Loyola University in Los Angeles (now Loyola Marymount University) but was uncertain about her new role. What would someone with a background in elementary education, she wondered, be doing on a college campus? Nonetheless, she continued to press forward, dutifully following her religious order’s request with the faith that God would lead her where she needed to be. And so, in the summer of 1961, Sister Jean stepped onto the lakefront campus of Mundelein College, having no idea that it would be the place she would call home for the remainder of her life.

At first, Sister Jean relied on what she knew. Putting her experience in the classroom to use, she taught courses on methods in elementary education, supervised student teachers, and conducted a reading clinic for children in neighboring schools. During this time, she also served as assistant director of what would become Wright Hall, where 150 young sisters lived while pursuing degrees at Mundelein. In the decades that followed, Sister Jean held many different positions at the college, including assistant dean, acting dean, director of summer session, director of academic services, director of Coffey Hall, and eventually associate vice president for academic affairs. She considered each role a new learning opportunity, and greatly enjoyed her interaction with students, faculty, and staff.

In 1991, 30 years after Sister Jean had arrived at Mundelein, the college became affiliated with Loyola. Sister Jean, along with all other Mundelein employees, would have to fill out an application and go through a standard interview process if they hoped to become a Loyola employee. Again, it was a new experience. Religious sisters didn’t apply for jobs—they took assignments from their community. But undaunted as always, Sister Jean forged ahead. The transition held plenty of challenges for both the Mundelein and Loyola communities, as there were details to be worked out and adjustments to be made. Sister Jean was hired by Loyola to work as an academic advisor at University College, which was later renamed Mundelein College and eventually became the School of Continuing and Professional Studies. She also took on a role in campus ministry and continued working with administrators and students to ensure a smooth transition for former Mundelein students who transferred to Loyola.

It wasn’t long after making the transition to Loyola that Sister Jean would take on an entirely new role at the University—and the one for which she would become best known.

Rambler spirit

Sister Jean’s love of sports—particularly basketball—dated back far before she landed on the shores of Lake Michigan. She and her brothers would play touch football in the neighborhood, and despite her lack of height, she was always drawn to basketball. Her elementary school didn’t have a basketball court at the time, so it wasn’t until high school that Sister Jean was first able to play on the intramural basketball team. At the time, the court for women was divided into three sections. Players could not step over the line outside their section. In the middle section were two sides and two centers and, not being tall enough to play center, Sister Jean’s position was always as a side. It wasn’t until after she graduated from high school that women’s basketball would change to half-court.

While teaching in North Hollywood, Sister Jean formally reconnected with her sports roots. St. Charles was the first school she taught at that had the funds to support athletics, so Sister Jean approached the pastor to ask about adding sports teams. His answer was yes—if Sister Jean wanted to take the responsibility of organizing them, that is. She was happy to oblige, and soon she was coaching teams in basketball, volleyball, softball, track, ping pong, and even yo-yo. They were part of the Catholic Youth Organization, playing in regional, diocesan, and statewide competitions. As Sister Jean herself once described it, “we played, and we played hard.”

When she came to Mundelein, Sister Jean would watch the Loyola Ramblers play basketball. She cheered the team on during their historic 1963 season that culminated in an NCAA championship. So, when she was given the opportunity to have an official role with the team, she jumped at it.

That moment came in 1994, and it originated, oddly enough, with a plan to retire. Sister Jean had been in education for more than 50 years, and at age 75, she was ready to step back from her role at the University. But Loyola’s then-president, Reverend John Piderit, S.J., had other ideas. His request, at first, was simple: Can you help the men’s and women’s basketball players with their studies? Anyone with a GPA that fell below 2.0 would no longer be eligible to play, and the teams needed someone to help students who may be struggling. Calling herself the “booster shooter,” Sister Jean started reaching out to any player with a GPA below 2.5. She kept up with students to see if they were completing their work and making time to study. She also checked in with faculty to make sure the students were on track. She was clearly good at the job—so good, in fact, that after two years, the players’ GPAs had improved to the point that they no longer needed a “booster shooter.” But they still needed Sister Jean.

And so, Sister Jean transitioned again, this time to team chaplain. It was, in many ways, the perfect role for her. She could still serve as an inspiration and a source of support to the players; best of all, she could watch plenty of games from the stands. Her pregame prayers became a trademark of Ramblers’ home games, each one unique, sometimes drawing laughs from fans and even players on the opposing team. She would then turn her attention to the crowd, riling them up and getting them to cheer on the Ramblers. Her iconic presence in the seats of Gentile Arena became a hallmark of every basketball game for fans and players alike.

But harkening back to her own days on the court, Sister Jean was prepared to offer more than spiritual advice. She’d keep in touch with players during the season, emailing them with notes about their performance in the previous game or advice on what to watch out for with another team’s players. She was careful not to overstep, but not shy about sharing her years of basketball knowledge with the coaching staff and players. Former Ramblers coach Jim Whitesell, who led the team from 2004 to 2011, recalled during a 2007 interview with Loyola magazine his first meeting with Sister Jean, just a few weeks after he took the coaching job: “This little lady walks into my office, and says, ‘It’s great to have you.’ And then she gives me a five-minute lecture on what I need to do with the program. She said, ‘You need to work on team spirit,’ and this and that. I was taken aback. But she was right on point.”

Former coach Porter Moser, who helmed the men’s basketball program from 2011 to 2021, had a similar experience. Upon arriving at Loyola, Moser got a scouting report from Sister Jean on every one of his players. He came to appreciate the advice and her basketball expertise. “She still sends me an email after every single game,” Moser told the Peoria Journal Star in 2017. “There is no human like her.”

Sister Jean became an invaluable asset to the Ramblers. Those custom Nike shoes that bore her name were a gift from the team, and like all great sports icons, she was immortalized as a plastic bobblehead figure. An updated version in 2018 became one of the best-selling bobbleheads ever made, and another followed in 2021 as the Ramblers again made a deep March Madness run, this time to the Sweet Sixteen. Merchandise from shirts to socks to water bottles can be found in stores around Chicago and on popular sports merchandise sites like Fanatics.com. She’s been featured on every major media outlet you can think of, including ESPN. (When a TV news reporter called her a national celebrity in 2018, she was quick to correct them: “International celebrity,” she said.) And in 2017, she took her rightful place in the Loyola Athletics Hall of Fame, being inducted on the court during halftime. In 2018, she was awarded the Sword of Loyola.

At her 103rd birthday celebration on August 21, 2022, the Loyola CTA Red Line plaza was renamed in her honor—and Sister Jean received proclamations from both Governor JB Pritzker and former Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot dedicating the day in her honor. Her memoir Wake Up with Purpose!: What I’ve Learned in My First Hundred Years was co-authored with Seth Davis and published in February 2023. Loaded with faith-filled wisdom and her signature wit, Sister Jean shares her remarkable journey and spiritual insights that have influenced generations of Loyola students and many others the world over.

In October 2023, Sister Jean was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame for her exceptional contributions in sports ministry.

Lasting legacy

Though many Loyolans’ first image of Sister Jean is sitting courtside at basketball games, her presence on campus extended far beyond athletics. She was a constant source of support and inspiration to the entire Loyola community, serving as a familiar face who was always willing to lend an ear or offer advice. She was known to drop in and join students for lunch in the Damen Student Center, or just to move around campus and start up conversations.

Having lived alongside students in the dorms, she was always in close proximity and would hold a weekly prayer group that was open to any students who wanted to join her. They would meet at 9 p.m. for a prayer, then Sister Jean would serve the students dessert and talk with them about what was happening in their classes and their lives. Whether Catholic or not, students of all backgrounds appreciated the opportunity to spend time with Sister Jean.

One of her proudest accomplishments on campus was running a program called SMILE (Students Moving into the Lives of the Elderly). Working with The Clare, the assisted living residence on the Water Tower Campus she called home for many years, Sister Jean would match a student with one of The Clare’s residents to spend time together. Those get-togethers ranged from the student helping with daily tasks, grocery shopping, going out to the symphony, or just sitting together and talking. The relationships that emerged were a joy for all involved, and Sister Jean was happy to take part in bringing different generations together to build community.

Rather than what she did, Sister Jean will be most remembered for who she was: an energetic woman who loved life and spread joy wherever she went. While her own life was undoubtedly remarkable, she believed that every person is called to live an extraordinary life in their own way—a philosophy that fueled her life’s journey and helped her to inspire so many others. “Being yourself is extraordinary, because each of us is a unique individual.” Sister Jean said in a 2014 interview. “I don’t have to be like somebody else. I just have to be me.”

To learn about funeral arrangements and leave a tribute, visit the Sister Jean memorial site.