A year ago, Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt enjoyed 10 birthday parties — one for each decade. Students, faculty and athletes gathered into a crowded Loyola student center to celebrate her 100th year of life.
For her 101st birthday Friday during a pandemic, Sister Jean will celebrate like never before, another example of how much she has experienced as a centenarian.
“I’m going to have a virtual birthday party,” she said with a giggle in a phone interview this week. “It’s just so unusual. But that’s all right. I’ll have fun.”
Loyola will host an online party for the basketball team chaplain, who gained fame during the underdog Ramblers’ seemingly miraculous run to the 2018 Final Four.
Those joining are asked to bring their own cake and ice cream to the Zoom party, and fans have been asked to share photos of themselves on social media with the hashtag #SisterJean101.
“I like birthdays,” she said.
Sister Jean is typically a social butterfly, but she has been adjusting to social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A fixture at Gentile Arena, she typically delivers pregame prayers with the team and before the crowd. Fans approached her frequently for selfies with Chicago’s favorite sports-loving nun. She also worked in the student center, her wheelchair pulled up to her desk and her door often open to encourage students to pop in for a chat.
These days, Sister Jean is mostly alone — but she rarely endures a dull moment at her downtown senior independent living community.
“I feel like I’m in isolation all the time,” she said. “I’m very careful, but it’s paid off because we don’t have any cases. People were feeling very sad about it. We couldn’t go visit anyone in the building. We were eating meals in our own room. It deprived us from the sociability we had. … We’ve been very good doing what we’re supposed to do. I have so much to do for Loyola and my congregation, and my emails are plentiful. I’ve been very busy, and that’s fine with me.”
Her senior facility recently allowed outdoor visits with distance and limited time. She takes phone calls from friends and Loyola athletes and is working with campus ministry on an interfaith project.
Born in San Francisco in 1919, Sister Jean sees similarities between this era and the years before the polio vaccine.
She remembers her disappointment as an 8-year-old when a new neighborhood pool didn’t open as children were discouraged from gathering during an outbreak.
“We were so sad,” she said. “There were so many things we had to be careful of. We couldn’t visit any children who had it. Some people even called places they were in a pest house, and that’s not a nice word for it, but it was a word used instead of isolation.”
Sister Jean said Americans can take small solace that the nation has made it through other hard moments. And despite an onslaught of difficult news, she said she looks for positives to keep her hopeful.
“I try to make myself think something good is going to come out of this because it is so bad,” she said. “I believe we are going to respect each other in a different way and care for each other in a different way. You see people in one neighborhood collecting food for another neighborhood that really needs it. They never thought of it before. They’re giving generously. Some people seldom know their neighbors, but this is bringing them together. The racism problem we have, we’re going to be better in social justice and equality.”
Sister Jean said she frequently reminds students to “wear those masks, wash those hands, keep that distance” to limit the spread of COVID-19. But she knows it’s hard.
“This is part of the Jesuit tradition and Jesuit education that we consider not only our neighbors but others globally,” she said. “It’s bigger than we ever thought it would be. We have to think about it and know God’s going to help us through this. We’re going to get there.”
Sister Jean, who broke her hip in 2017, has been using a walker in corridors to practice walking. She undergoes therapy twice a week in her room while wearing a mask.
“I’m huffing and puffing like a steam engine,” she said.
But, she said, wearing her mask will help limit the spread of COVID-19, get students back to in-person classes and return her to one of her favorite places.
While falls sports in the Missouri Valley Conference are postponed, Sister Jean anticipates a basketball season.
“Am I hopeful for it? You better believe it,” she said. “They want to go to the (NCAA Tournament) dance floor so badly this coming year.”
And she wants to witness it in person.
Like most, she’s eager to have the pandemic behind her, reminding students to concentrate on that joyful day in the future. Through 101 years, she has found comfort in appreciating each day and maintaining faith for a bright future.
Her online birthday party will be a moment to savor.
“Take time to think of that positive side,” she said.
