Introduction to Sister Jean
Sister Jean’s birthday looks a little different this year. Sister Jean Dolores Bertha Schmidt, the beloved nun and basketball chaplain at Loyola University Chicago, turned 106 Thursday. Typically, she celebrates with an on-campus birthday party, media interviews and conversations with students — her favorite part. But a “bad summer cold and other health issues” have changed her plans, according to a news release from Loyola President Mark Reed and Sister Jean.
Celebrating in Spirit
“That makes me very sad, but you can still celebrate,” she wrote in a message to Loyola students and staff. Sister Jean stole the spotlight in 2018 when the Loyola men’s basketball team busted brackets in the NCAA March Madness tournament, making its way to the Final Four. Viewers all over the country were charmed by Loyola and especially Sister Jean, who, clad in a maroon-and-gold scarf, supported the team with daily prayers and motivation.
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt celebrates with the Loyola Ramblers after defeating the Kansas State Wildcats during the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at Philips Arena.
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
A Life of Service and Joy
Since then, she has been immortalized in bobblehead form, interviewed by national and international media outlets, thrown the ceremonial first pitch at Cubs games and stayed young at heart through it all.
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, 98, throws the ceremonial first pitch. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
“I don’t really think about being old,” she told the Sun-Times days before her 104th birthday in 2023. She has been a part of Loyola and the former Mundelein College for more than 60 years after moving to Chicago in 1961. Sister Jean, of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was born in San Francisco on Aug. 21, 1919. Her secrets to a long life are simple: loving others and God, caring for your mind and body and being around young people.
Words of Wisdom
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt blows out the candles on her cake during her 100th birthday celebration at Damen Student Center, on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019.
“You have to be considerate of other people, and you have to keep talking to the youth wherever you’re working because their energy transfers easily to you,” Sister Jean told the Sun-Times ahead of her 105th birthday last summer. This year, she encouraged students to take part in her birthday celebrations as they prepare to start fall
