Loyola-Chicago has enjoyed considerable men's basketball success in the last decade, but the face of that success wasn't any player or coach—it was a nun.
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt—the popular face of the Ramblers, and a revered figure in Rogers Park, Chicago and across the college basketball world—died Thursday at the age of 106. Sister Jean, as the longtime Loyola-Chicago team chaplain was popularly known, became a national celebrity as the Ramblers advanced to the Final Four in 2018.
So well-known in the Windy City was Sister Jean that her online mourners included former President Barack Obama, who called her a "remarkable woman."
CBS's Tracy Wolfson was among a number of journalists to mourn a figure noted for her media friendliness.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker sent his condolences from Springfield.
NBC's John Fanta recalled her magnetism in '18 as the Ramblers knocked off giant after giant.
Cardinal Blaise Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, noted Sister Jean's trademark sense of humor.
Reflecting her status on the North Side, the Cubs paid tribute to Sister Jean the day after a seismic win over the Brewers.
