Born in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Jochen moved with his family to Saalfeld-Unterwellenborn, Thuringia, where he completed an apprenticeship as an electrician, studied at the Technical University of Dresden, and graduated as a Diplom-Ingenieurökonom for energy. As such, he worked as an engineer at the Maxhütte Unterwellenborn before moving to Berlin at the end of the sixties to work for the Free German Youth, the Committee for Entertainment and the Ministry of Culture. He was interested in the social use of rock music, having already found a passion for music in Thuringia, where he took care of the cultural accompaniment to students’ harvest campaigns, organised cabaret evenings, and played beat music. Later, he became the union leader at the Friedrichstadtpalast. In the autumn of 1989, he participated in the establishment of an independent workplace union at the Friedrichstadtpalast and was one of the founders of the free union for art, culture, and media. As early as 1988, he had made contacts with union members from the western part of the city. He knew how important that was.

The end of the GDR also changed his life significantly. In 1991, he decided to become self-employed. He would have preferred to found an event agency, but others had beaten him to it. However, his training as an electrician led him to neon advertising and the advertising industry. So he founded an agency, which eventually evolved into the family business, the fourC print+mediafabrik, where his wife Siegrid managed accounting and his son André, who now leads the company, took care of computer technology.

But 1. FC Union were also to become his great passion. In 1969, he attended his first game at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei, against FC Carl Zeiss Jena. For him, this was a primal experience that would leave a lasting impression on him - even if this was followed initially by somewhat of a pause. Through his company, he became closer to the club in the 1990s—initially through the matchday programme.

In 1997, the club was in dire straits, so when former colleagues from the Friedrichstadtpalast asked him for help he offered to print the matchday magazine for free. The club subsequently took it over entirely. Together with a handful of Unioners, who were then responsible for the content and graphics as the magazine makers known as the PROGRAMMIERER, he produced the programme until 2023.

In 2003, Jochen became a member of the supervisory board of 1. FC Union Berlin, where he remained until the end, and he also became one of the co-founders of Union's Economic Council in 2004, significantly influencing its operations as chairman from 2005 to 2017, and since then as honourary chairman.

The Brecht line, “We have to take care of ourselves, through ourselves” wasn't just a lyric for him. It shaped his actions. He concerned himself with making the stadium as a place of desired equality, the game a binding force, and the stands as places to bring together the Union family and their guests. Football's inherent potential had to be discovered. As Ror Wolf wrote, “The world was not football, but it is no secret that in football, you find a whole lot of the world”

For Jochen, it was about more than just the equally important sporting and economic aspects. As he liked to say, “Professional football is not for cowards!”. Jochen became the intellectual authority of the club and was also a key contributor to the foundation and work of the foundation “UNION VEREINT. Shoulder to shoulder”, established in 2016, which he led and shaped as chairman until 2024.

The club listened to him and thanked him for his commitment. In 2017, he was honored with honourary membership of 1. FC Union Berlin. He wore the silver badge of honour from 2007 and the golden one from 2012. In 2021, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier awarded him the Cross of Merit on the ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his long-standing social engagement.

He found it hard to let go, even when his doctor said that he should finally behave like an eighty-year-old. But he was still sought after; his advice was valued until the end, and his authority remained unbroken, even when insidious disease had long taken hold of him. In the end, however, he lost the battle against the illness.

“In Jochen Lesching, we are losing a person who has uniquely shaped our club since 2004. Jochen was an Unioner with great integrative power, an unwavering fighter for highlighting and utilising the significance of football for the lives of so many people to make a positive impact on our society,” said Union President Dirk Zingler.

“For Union, but also for me personally, Jochen's farewell is a profoundly painful loss. Jochen was a close friend and an important advisor to me over the years. Together we walked the long path from existential threat to the Champions League, from a municipal stadium ruin to a future project on our own ground. We share the pain and sorrow with his family, to whom we extend our heartfelt condolences. Jochen will be missed, but his thoughts and ideas will continue to resonate in our club.”

On behalf of the supervisory board, Thomas Koch bid, too, farewell. “Jochen lived, thought, and worked for Union for more than 20 years. He was something like the philosophical father of today's 1. FC Union Berlin, and it pains me deeply not to have him by our side anymore. I am grateful for the many years we spent together during which we accomplished so much for our club. We will continue this path, and I am sure that many Unioners agree with me that we will do so in his spirit. “Football for people” is his legacy to which we are committed,” said the chairman of the supervisory board of 1. FC Union Berlin.

Jochen Lesching leaves behind his widow Siegrid, his son André, his daughter-in-law, and his beloved grandchildren. Our sincere condolences go to them all. With him, 1. FC Union Berlin has lost a decisive thinker and authority; his is a loss that cannot be replaced. But his legacy will remain, in the family, in the business, in and around the club.

Bertolt Brecht wrote: “Ensure that when you leave the world, you were not only good, but leave behind a good world.” Dear Jochen, perhaps you were not granted the latter. But you always gave everything to make it so.

1. FC Union Berlin will honor Jochen Lesching's memory and bid him farewell with a moment of silence before the Cup match next Wednesday at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.