Tony Messenger | Post-Dispatch

Metro columnist

There is a pair of socks in my bottom drawer with a woman’s face on them.

Her name is Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt. She died Thursday. She was 106.

The socks with Sister Jean’s picture were sent to me after her beloved Loyola University men’s basketball team made a dream run to the Final Four in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Having attended Loyola for two years in the mid-1980s, I was a fan of the team and thoroughly enjoyed the attention that Sister Jean, the team’s chaplain, received.

Her joy, and her ever-present maroon and gold scarf, became the story of the tournament. It was repeated in 2021, during the pandemic, when she returned with the team for another run, though they fell short of the Final Four.

Joy, spread with words of encourag

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