Des Plaines couple to be honored at LSSI’s True Friend celebration

David and Julie Luck Jensen will be honored by Lutheran Social Services of Illinois with the True Friend Award during the 45th annual True Friend Celebration on Oct. 3. The award is given in recognition of their commitment, service and support of LSSI and other nonprofit organizations.

Since 1867, LSSI, with headquarters in Des Plaines, has served Illinois as one of the state’s largest human service organizations, providing foster care, mental health and addiction treatment, senior housing and home care, disability services, and support for individuals and families affected by incarceration.

For David Jensen, the recognition marks the culmination of a relationship with LSSI spanning 50 years. Along the way, he served in board leadership and executive leadership roles, while also building a distinguished career in nonprofit healthcare finance.

Julie Jensen has devoted decades to educational advocacy, volunteer work, and church service while supporting LSSI initiatives and community outreach efforts.

Today, David sees his introduction to LSSI, soon after college graduation, as part of the congregational fundraising effort at Messiah Lutheran Church in Park Ridge, as the catalyst for a relationship that has endured half a century.

“As I learned more, I immediately thought ‘I’m sure I’ll get further involved someday,’” David recalled. “Later, I understood better the phrase responding to the gospel from the LSSI mission and why it’s been a very natural part of Christian life to me.”

That commitment developed alongside a professional career focused on nonprofit organizations. David began as a certified public accountant and found particular satisfaction working with nonprofit healthcare clients, which included Lutheran General Hospital.

“Later, the hospital president called me in and said he thought I would be even more engaged if I actually joined the hospital management team,” David said. He eventually served as chief financial officer there.

His career led to executive finance positions at Children’s Memorial Hospital (now Lurie Children’s Hospital) and Rush University Medical Center. Looking back on those years, David said the opportunity to contribute to organizations dedicated to helping others inspired him. “It’s quite satisfying to know you have a small part in the good work they do,” he said.

Throughout his career, David’s affinity for LSSI continued as he served on the board of directors, including as chairman, before becoming LSSI’s chief operating officer.

“This was particularly attractive because it enabled me to more closely see what LSSI does,” he said. “I was always so impressed by the diversity, effectiveness, and innovation of its services, and their geographic reach.” Later, he took other roles as requested, including interim chief executive officer and chief financial officer.

As the couple raised two sons, Julie also had a thriving career, first as an elementary school teacher and administrator in Wheeling, then devoting more than 30 years of service in several capacities including board president to the Illinois Association for Gifted Children, where she continues to consult on a volunteer basis.

“It’s still a way to connect with something that I believe in. Gifted kids are in every population, and their parents and teachers may not be able to identify and help them,” she said.

Her volunteer efforts have included participation in LSSI’s Women’s Network, where members visited service sites and supported programs through fundraising activities, including the annual True Friend Celebration.

Her commitment to service extends to their church. “Julie is a force behind our Monday Meals program,” said the Rev. Pastor Aneel Trivedi at Messiah Lutheran Church, where she helps to oversee the logistics necessary to provide meals each week to approximately 45 community members, including some who are unhoused.

“The Jensens are foundational, essential, principal members of this small congregation,” he said. “I don’t know what it is in them to get involved in everything they do.”

Pastor Trevedi credits the Jensens with helping transform the church’s former parsonage into LSSI’s 10th group home for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, working with Messiah’s late pastor, the Rev. Lynne Morrow, and, later, Trivedi.

“They made the link to what LSSI does and what it could do with the space.” he said. “They rallied the congregation about the idea and helped make it happen.”

As a lifelong member of Messiah Lutheran Church, David has seen the congregation evolve. “You see a lot of change over time, and you see things that don’t change that make the organization what it is,” he said. “There’s always an opportunity to adapt to new needs. I see that at LSSI, too.”

David remembers representing LSSI to receive the prestigious Drucker Prize for Nonprofit Innovation, for a program in which LSSI transitioned children at risk for losing parents to the AIDS epidemic with new adoptive families.

“I shared with a member of the award committee how the program had evolved as parents lived longer with clinical advancements. He was impressed not only by what LSSI had done, but also how it had adapted as needs changed,” he said. “We’d started with one program and adapted into a much larger one.”

The Jensens have proudly passed the torch of service onto their sons, Tryg and Tait. Tryg worked at LSSI. Tait is a member of LSSI’s associate board.

The couple also supports LSSI philanthropically, including a bequest to the organization in their estate plan. “LSSI’s mission is consistent with the Gospel,” David said. “It’s impossible not to get engaged with and support the work they do.”

For True Friend Celebration details and ticket information, go to LSSI.org/TrueFriend.