Friends of Basketball

Betty & Neil Jensen

Year Inducted: 2003

Category: Friends of Basketball

Schools / Organizations:

(Chicago) St. Patrick High School

Biography: 

Neil and Betty Jensen started attending (Chicago) St. Patrick High School basketball games in 1961. The couple were not your average high school fanatics as they didn’t miss a game for 30 years and missed only a handful in 40 years. 

The Jensens, who lived in Lombard, were at every home game and went to the Elgin Christmas Tournament every year. For 20 years, they drove to the Carbondale Tournament to watch the Shamrocks compete. They saw so many games at Carbondale that tournament officials gave them a ballot to vote for the all-tournament team.

The couple had three sons but none of them played basketball. Their loyalty did not go unnoticed by the school. They were honored on Senior Parent’s Night in 1965 even though they were the only parents who didn’t have a son on the team. They were inducted into the St. Patrick Hall of Fame in 1997 as Betty was the first woman member.