5 May 2022

ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, will convene a special session of the court en banc in memory of the late Judge Paul J. Simon at 3 p.m. Tuesday, May 10, 2022, at the Old Post Office, 815 Olive Street, St. Louis, Missouri. Judge Simon died June 6, 2021. He served as judge for the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, from 1979 until his retirement in 2004, after which he served as a senior settlement judge until 2010.

The invited speakers are Judges Mary R. Russell of the Supreme Court of Missouri and Gary M. Gaertner Jr. of the Eastern District appeals court as well as attorneys Kelsy Lantz, Chris Saracino and Ted Tahan.

Judge Simon earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting from Washington University in St. Louis and his law degree from Saint Louis University School of Law, where he attended night school while working full time. Upon graduation, he engaged in private practice with Floyd McBride. Early in his career, he was a member of the Missouri House of Representatives and was the 7th Ward Democratic committeeman in St. Louis. He was also a deputy city coroner, a special assistant Missouri attorney general, and the chief deputy clerk of St. Louis magistrate court. In 1975, he was elected president of the St. Louis board of aldermen and was reelected in 1979. Later in 1979, Governor Joseph Teasdale appointed him to the court of appeals. He served as the court’s chief judge from 1989 to 1990.

Over the years, Judge Simon was active in the legal community, serving as a member of The Missouri Bar board of governors, as secretary and chairperson of the Bar’s division of judicial administration, as chairperson of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis’ bench and bar committee, and as a member of the Judicial Conference of Missouri’s legislative committee. In retirement, he served a term on the Missouri Citizen’s Commission on Compensation for Elected Officials. In addition, Judge Simon was a longtime member of St. Raymond Maronite Cathedral and a board member of Gene Slay’s Girls and Boys Club of St. Louis.

Judge Simon married Mary Jane Meyer in 1955; they had five children. He is survived by two sons, Sam Simon and Jim Simon; two daughters, Jayne Vollmer and Joan Saracino; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Contact: Laura Roy, clerk of court

Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District

(314) 539-4300