{"id":166096,"date":"2025-09-24T15:43:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T15:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/166096\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T15:43:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T15:43:06","slug":"loyola-basketball-superfan-sister-jean-officially-retires-at-106-years-old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/166096\/","title":{"rendered":"Loyola Basketball Superfan Sister Jean Officially Retires at 106 Years Old"},"content":{"rendered":"

Loyola University Chicago\u2019s biggest college basketball fan is finally getting a chance to kick her feet up.<\/p>\n

Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, who became a folk hero<\/a> during Loyola\u2019s Cinderella run to the Final Four in 2018, has retired from her duties at the university at the age of 106.<\/p>\n

Schmidt, known simply as Sister Jean, had served as campus minister and chaplain of the Ramblers men\u2019s basketball team since 1991.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSister Jean is retiring and stepping back from official duties at Loyola,\u201d Loyola\u2019s Vice President of Communications, Christian Andersen, told The Loyola Phoenix <\/a>earlier this month.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Meet
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n Related: Meet the 58-Year-Old Freshman Playing Division III College Football<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tTom Cillo is hoping to prove that age is nothing but a number \u2014 even on the football field.\u00a0 Cillo, 58, is currently a freshman defensive lineman for the Division III Lycoming College football team in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.\u00a0 \u201cI thought, I\u2019m going to give this a shot and I\u2019m going to write the script,\u2019\u201c Cillo [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n

Loyola President Mark Reed also confirmed Sister Jean\u2019s retirement to The Athletic<\/a> on Wednesday, September 24, saying, \u201cShe will always be an integral member of our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Concerns about Sister Jean\u2019s health were raised when she failed to attend Loyola Chicago\u2019s NIT semifinal game in April.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are mindful of Sister\u2019s privacy in regards to health and can\u2019t comment beyond what was mentioned in her birthday message,\u201d Anderson told the Phoenix.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To celebrate her 106th birthday on August 21, Sister Jean wrote a letter to the Loyola Chicago community<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it is my 106th birthday,\u201d she wrote. \u201cBirthdays are special days, and this one is also very special. In fact, I am unable to be there because I have a bad summer cold and other health issues so it has been decided that I should not go to Lake Shore Campus to be with you on my birthday. That makes me very sad, but you can still celebrate.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continued, \u201cTo the Students: Make new friends. Talk to your old friends. Enjoy your move-in and your preparations for class. I will be with you in spirit and love and prayer. These things are very important in your life as you adjust to your new \u2018home away from home\u2019 at Loyola University. Your parents have entrusted you to our care. We appreciate that trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sister Jean said it had been \u201cwonderful for me to be with you these years and to watch you grow spiritually, intellectually, and socially, and to see the friends you\u2019ve made.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough this year I am unable to be at the party with you in person, I celebrate with you in spirit,\u201d she concluded. \u201cGod bless you and Go Ramblers!\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tThank You!<\/p>\n

You have successfully subscribed.<\/p>\n

In addition to her professional duties at the school, Sister Jean helped to establish the Sister Jean Scholarship Fund, which continues to support Loyola Chicago students in need.<\/p>\n

Sister Jean became an indelible part of the Ramblers\u2019 NCAA Tournament run, attending all of their games decked out in maroon and gold. She continued to support the basketball team in subsequent seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2023, she published her memoir, \u201cWake Up With Purpose! What I\u2019ve Learned in My First 100 Years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Loyola University Chicago\u2019s biggest college basketball fan is finally getting a chance to kick her feet up. Sister…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,1581,134,85],"class_list":["post-166096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-celebrity-news","tag-entertainment","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}