Obituary of Judith Saul Stix
Judith
Saul Stix died peacefully in the early morning of Saturday, December
13, 2025, in her residence in University City. She was unafraid and
ready to move on to her next chapter. Over her more than nine decades,
her life centered around ideas, intellect, and words. Judith had
numerous friends and often elevated the conversation with those around
her while indulging their individual interests and personalities. She
valued those relationships throughout her life.
Neither
athlete nor outdoorsman, she became an accomplished birdwatcher and
gardener. With her husband and other couples, she braved many multi-day
canoe trips on Missouri’s beautiful Ozark rivers. She embraced
traveling, family camping, hiking, and swimming. Judith loved summer
family lunches in her serene, shady backyard—at a picnic table set on
pecan shells nestled under a crabapple tree.
Born
Judith Bess Saul on May 26, 1932, in Atlanta, Georgia, to Abner Genzel
Saul and Bernice Edith (née) Bass, she was three years older than her
sister, Shelah Gershon Saul Michael. Her father and mother died in 1951
and 1952, respectively. As a child of the Great Depression, her early
life was tumultuous and filled with insecurity. What liberated her was
her intense intelligence, like her mother before her. For example, she
was admitted to the University of Chicago at age 14 (but wisely chose
not to enroll).
Judith met
her future husband, Ernest William Stix, Jr., during an intermission at a
performance of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 1950 and they
married April 24, 1953, at Ernest’s parents’ house (6470 Forsyth
Boulevard, now part of Washington University). Over the next four years
they would have three children.
She and Ernest developed a passion for acquiring eclectic décor that continued all their lives. In addition, they treasured
their relationships with: local artist Bessie Cronbach Lowenhaupt
(1881–1968) whom they had befriended in 1959; with botanist Thomas
MacDougall, whom they met in Mexico in the 1950s; with Colombian artist
Guillermo Silva Santamaria; and other unique individuals whom they
encountered and cultivated.
They
collected distinctive pieces of antique furniture and surrounded
themselves with both Judith’s superb original needlepoint works (rugs,
pictures, pillows, tapestries, belts, eyeglass cases) and a plethora of
Ernest’s found-object sculptures.
Known
as Judy to her friends, she had a life-long love of books, learning,
words, travel, and the arts generally. Teachers inspired and encouraged
her from an early age, recognizing her innate intelligence and
intellectual curiosity, which eventually led her to Washington
University. As a junior, she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, graduating a
year later at age twenty.
Judy was a voracious reader, a habit that sustained her throughout her life.
Poetry
was her vocation. Her first two published poems were award winners that
appeared in an anthology of poems by Tennessee high schoolers, although
she would later claim that her poetry writing began in 1956. The many
iterations that each poem went through attest to the rigorous analysis
and disciplined method of working that Judith brought to her craft.
In 2008, Ernest published Woman/Years,
a four-volume, hard-bound collection containing more than 1200 of
Judy’s poems. In 2024, Westgate Poetry Press published a selection of
her more recent work in a single volume titled Heart like a falling leaf.
Beyond
poetry, Judy was proud of her writings generally. She wrote essays and
reviews for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch; eulogies, obituaries (but not
this one, sorry to say), and appreciations; biographies; genealogies;
travelogues; letters; and more.
Judith
was predeceased by her devoted husband of nearly six decades, Ernest W.
Stix, Jr., and several cherished family pets. She is survived by their
three children (Susan Stix, Austin TX; Peter Stix, Albany NY; and Robert
Stix (Anita Stix), Red Bank NJ), six grandchildren, and a precious
two-year-old great-grandson.
In
the last years of her life, Judy continued to develop strong, close
friendships. Those friends were bright, warm beacons for her in her
twilight years.
Besides
family life and various cultural, literary, and social interests, Judy
cherished her Jewish background, Jewish traditions, and traditions
generally. She was accomplished in the kitchen, paying careful
attention to the dishes and their plating. Not infrequently when
hosting company, she would daringly try out new recipes. Fittingly, her
affinity for soups and efforts to replicate her grandmother’s recipes
echoed her Jewish origins.
One of Judy’s favorite aphorisms, often quoted, was “Time is all we have and all we don’t have."
Services will be private.
Memo to Myself
What should my poems be? I wish
my work to be conversational,
and as clear and cogent as prose;
to have rhythmic structure, balance;
to reflect the touch of feelings,
the distillations of perception;
to spring from the unknown into
the known, add something to the world.
–JSS
