Loyola University Chicago was preparing Wednesday to celebrate the life of Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM, the beloved chaplain of the Loyola Ramblers basketball team.

Sister Jean died Thursday, Oct. 9, at the age of 106.

The wake service and visitation for Sister Jean were held Wednesday evening at the Madonna della Strada Chapel at Loyola's Lake Shore campus.

A funeral mass is scheduled for Thursday at the same chapel.

On Wednesday morning, students across the Loyola Lake Shore campus in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood said they were really feeling the loss. Many were excused from class to attend the funeral service on Thursday.

"She just brings such a light on campus," said Loyola volleyball player Avary DeBlieck. "Anytime I'd walk past her office in the student center, it was so great to just peek in and see her there, hard at work, sending emails to the university, and just hard at work. So yeah, she's just really sweet."

Sister Jean also supported DeBlieck's team.

"She came to our practice, our volleyball practice and blessed all of our hands before an important game, so it was really nice to share that experience with her," DeBlieck said.

Sister Jean was known to make appearances in the dining hall and at campus events. Loyola junior Camila Ucros recalled their first conversation.

We talked for like 10 minutes, even though she has so many people she wants to talk to. She told me not to worry about my freshman year, 'It'll all be OK,'" said Ucros, "and she was just very, very sweet and very down to earth."

Sister Jean was born Aug. 21, 1919, in San Francisco. She headed to Dubuque, Iowa to join the BVM order after graduating from high school, and received her habit at the BVM motherhouse on March 19, 1938.

After several years of teaching in the Los Angeles area and earning her bachelor's and master's degrees, Sister Jean moved to Chicago and began teaching college courses at Mundelein College in 1961. She was named acting dean of Mundelein College in 1970, having already served as associate dean and director of summer sessions, Loyola said.

Sister Jean served continued teaching and serving in several other administrative positions at the all-women's Mundelein College, until the school merged with Loyola University Chicago in 1991. At that point, Sister Jean became an assistant dean and academic advisor at Loyola.

In 1994, Sister Jean was 75 and ready to retire, Loyola said. But she had a new calling to help student athletes maintain their grades and thus keep up their eligibility. She soon became chaplain of the men's basketball team — offering pregame prayers and becoming crucial to the team's success.

When the Ramblers had their Cinderella run to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in 2018, Sister Jean became a nationwide and worldwide household name.

"Just seeing like 80 cameras in front of like, this old lady, was just so funny," said former Loyola ramblers basketball player Lucas Williamson, "but she meant a lot to our team and university."

Sister Jean said her courtside job was to be both a cheerleader and a scout, and she brought the humor too — as evidenced by her response in March 2018 when CBS Chicago sports reporter Megan Mawicke pointed out that the Sister Jean was becoming a national celebrity.

"Really, if I can correct you — international," Sister Jean said at the time, "because they told me I'm appearing in Mexico and in Great Britain."

Williamson played on that storied Final Four squad, and spent several years on the team with Sister Jean cheering him on.

"I saw her three weeks ago when she was announced that she retired," Williamson said, "and you weren't allowed to tell her that she was retired, because she thought that she was still a part of the team."

Williamson spoke at Sister Jean's wake Wednesday night.

Also Wednesday, some in the Loyola community were wearing pins reading, "Sr. Jean Superfan."

For more information and to access the livestream links, visit Loyola's website.