In Loving Memory of Leigh Joy Carson

Leigh Joy Carson passed peacefully at home on February 28, 2024 surrounded by her family and pets. Leigh will be remembered as a loving mother, a fierce attorney, and a pillar of the St. Louis law community. 

Leigh was born Oct. 7, 1961 in Champaign, IL. She graduated from Ripon College in 1983 and St. Louis University School of Law in 1986. She was an attorney for over 30 years. She started her own family law practice, and owned a successful small business for over 25 years. 

The honesty and fierceness with which she drove her practice was the same fuel she used to power through the challenges of advanced multiple sclerosis. 

In 2002, Leigh welcomed her daughter, Maria Carson, into her life via adoption from Guatemala. As a family unit, Leigh and Maria shared an incredibly tight bond – speaking their own special language of lively facial expressions and inside jokes. 

She is survived by her daughter, Maria, her mother, Patricia Carson, her sister Lorelei Carson Marshall, her nieces, Abigail and Eleanor Marshall, and aunt, Karen Carson. She also leaves behind her loyal companions: her dog, Gus, and her cats, Squish, Snowbelly, and Rufus. 

Leigh, never deterred by her challenges with mobility, was a seasoned and intrepid world traveler for her entire life. Her adventures took her to Paris, Guatemala, New Mexico, Panama, and Hawaii, and beyond up until her death. 

She loved Jeopardy, Scrabble, and sweets from Crown Candy Kitchen, and she rarely had fewer than three cats. 

She preferred shock value humor to outward sentimentality, and yet she could always find the words for life’s most difficult moments – inside of the courtroom and out – cutting to the heart of hardship with nuanced yet powerful turns of phrase.

She met life head on with incredible courage, frankness, and humor. She defied adversity and pursued her ambitions in every area of her life. She taught all who knew her how to live with an expanded sense of what is possible. 

Donations in remembrance of Leigh are suggested to The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, or the local pet shelter APA Adoption Center.  We invite St. Louis folks who wish to be present to join a Happy Hour at CJ Muggs in Clayton on Friday, March 1, 5 – 7 pm.