When I spoke with Sister Jean by telephone Thursday morning, she sounded sharp, energetic and full of pep. That’s not unusual, but this time our conversation marked a very special occasion: Her 106th birthday.
That’s right, 106. Count ’em all. And it’s a good 106. Sister Jean’s body has suffered many of the usual aches and ailments that afflict a person her age, but her mind is still clear and her memory is still strong. She is a medical marvel and a miracle of God. She’s also my great friend.
It took Sister Jean 98 years to become an overnight sensation, but when her Loyola Chicago Ramblers made a Cinderella run to the 2018 Final Four, she became an international celebrity. She has served as the team’s chaplain since 1994, and with each win the spotlight turned ever more intensely on the pint-sized nonagenarian waving pom poms in her wheelchair. Her wit, her charm and pregame prayers became the stuff of legend. (“May God bless us and keep us healthy. And let’s be sure to box out number 43 because he’s their best rebounder.”) Sister Jean’s mental acuity and inner resolve seemed remarkable when she was a mere 98 years old. Six years later, those things remain very much intact.
Ken Pomeroy Crunched The Numbers And Changed The Game
Meet the man behind KenPom.com, college basketball’s premier analytics site
When I reached her on the big day, Sister Jean told me that her phone had been ringing constantly and she had seen some of the local TV coverage devoted to her. I checked in again the following night, and she joyfully reported that the celebration was still going strong. “A lot of people have come to see me,” she said. “We had a nice party. They had cookies, we took pictures and did a little singing. All those good things that come with a birthday.”
Though she does not spend time on social media, she was well aware that tributes to her were populating everyone’s feeds. “Oh, that’s what they told me, yes. They told me I was all over the place,” she said.
How has she lived so long and so well? That is the question she gets asked the most, and her answer never wavers. “What I say is that I eat well, I sleep well and hopefully I pray well,” she told me. “And then I go on to talk about having a purpose in life and waking up in the morning and saying, ‘Thank you God. I’m here to do what you want me to do, and may I do it for your honor and glory.’ And of course, it helps to have good genes. My dad had six sisters and two brothers and they all lived between 90 and 95. I thought when 95 came along it would be my turn, but I guess God has more work for me to do.”
I first met Sister Jean at the 2018 Final Four. She was sitting courtside before the game, and I went over to introduce myself. My CBS partner Greg Gumbel came, too. His sister Rhonda had been a student of hers at Mundelein College (an all-female school that incorporated with Loyola in 1991). Greg didn’t expect Sister Jean to remember, but when he mentioned it, she shouted above the din, “I know! Every time I see you on TV I think of her!” Greg’s jaw just about hit the ground.
As I watched Sister Jean become a huge story, it occurred to me that she must have a great story to tell. Three years later, I asked Porter Moser, who coached those Ramblers to the Final Four and has since moved on to Oklahoma, to put us in touch. I got Sister Jean on the phone and pitched her on the idea of writing a book together, but she was a hard sell. “I’m very busy,” she said. “Why don’t you just write it?” I suggested that we have a couple of conversations so she could better understand the process, and then decide if she wanted to commit.
We clicked right away. Far from thinking of our project as a burden, she loved strolling down memory lane. “I haven’t thought of this in ninety years,” she would marvel as she described events like walking with her mother across the Golden Gate Bridge on the day it opened. The result of our work was “Wake Up With Purpose! What I’ve Learned During My First Hundred Years.” It was published by Harper Collins in February of 2023 and spent four weeks on the New York Times’ best seller list.
I’ve authored four collaborations and I’m currently writing a fifth with Larry Brown. A special relationship always forms between author and collaborator, but Sister Jean has been especially diligent about staying in touch. She emails me regularly and we speak on the phone at least once a month. I visited her a couple of times last winter when my work travels took me through Chicago. I also get voicemail messages from her every couple of weeks. They typically last a minute or two and are choc full of information about her schedule, the weather in Chicago, and of course, the latest happenings with Loyola’s basketball team.
Through it all, Sister Jean’s mind has remained sharp. Her body, alas, is not so cooperative. She suffered a setback last spring when fell off her wheelchair in her room. (“It wasn’t a fall,” she corrected. “I call it a little slide.”) Over the last few months, Sister Jean has been getting regular physical therapy, and she reported to me on her birthday that she stood by herself for 11 straight minutes that morning. She hoped to celebrate her birthday with the Loyola community, but she caught a cold recently and has been unable to shake it. Her doctors advised her to remain indoors.
Hubert Davis Isn’t Concerned About Pressure
Expectations are high at North Carolina. Hubert Davis fully embraces it.
The worst thing you can do to Sister Jean is tell her she can’t be around people, especially the students who give her so much of her life force. She still keeps an office on the ground floor of the student union. Before her injury she reported for work every day, always leaving her door open so the students can pop in and out whenever they want. On most days she eats lunch with them in the cafeteria. She spends the academic year appearing at functions, attending meetings, writing memos and emails, and corresponding with her expansive network of friends, family and colleagues.
In other words, she’s a grinder. Her work keeps her young.
That’s what has made the last few months so challenging. In May, she had to miss Loyola’s graduation ceremonies for the first time in forever. “It was very difficult,” she said. “I miss those students. I like to talk to people. I miss all my friends. Praying to God and being with people, that’s what I love the most.”
Yet what’s most remarkable — and least surprising — about Sister Jean is that she never lets adversity dent her spirit. She remains unfailingly upbeat and eternally grateful. Which is not to say she doesn’t have moments of discouragement. “Sometimes I feel my hope waning, but then I say, get with it, girl,” she said.
Sister Jean hopes to be back at work soon, but she did not want to put a timetable on it. “I have a committee of people who have to evaluate that,” she said. “Sometimes we have to overcome events because you have no control.”
She can, however, control her outlook, and for all her difficulties that never changes. No matter what happens, good or bad, she grinds, she smiles, she prays, she grinds, she lives. When I suggested that we should start making plans for her 107th, she didn’t disagree. “Oh, I’m sure there will a lot going on for that,” she said. “It’s never too early to plan a party.”
