In Memoriam: Ann Carter Fleming

We say a heartbreaking farewell this week to our friend and one of the backbones of StLGS, Ann Carter Fleming, who passed away on 22 March 2026. Ann’s accomplishments as a genealogist were legendary, and, perhaps more importantly, she was a patient mentor to a generation of us who were always learning from her skills as a researcher, writer, and editor. Ann was a perfectionist, and she demanded it from others. Her attention to detail and her ability to organize were apparent in everything she did.

Ann’s legacy as a genealogist extended from St. Louis across the nation. She served locally as past president of our society and on the StLGS board of directors and finance committee for many years. She was a past secretary, vice president, and president of the National Genealogical Society (NGS) and served on the board of the Friends of the Missouri State Archives. Not only was she a Certified Genealogist (CG) and a Certified Genealogical Lecturer (CGL), but she was also a Fellow of the National Genealogical Society (FNGS), which is a bit like an Academy Award in genealogy.

Ann’s forte was in meticulous planning, and NGS and StLGS were all the better for her skills. She chaired more than a half dozen national conferences, and her influence and expertise drew national recognition to StLGS in 2015 and again in 2019, when we hosted the annual NGS conference in St. Charles. She went on to help plan and organize several of our annual Family History Conferences, and at almost all of them, she was a featured lecturer as well.

She was the driving force behind creating the Julius K. Hunter and Friends African American Research Collection, previously part of Special Collections and now in the Emerson History and Genealogy Center at the Clark Family Branch of the St. Louis County Library. She oversaw the transfer of the StLGS library of more than 20,000 volumes to the County Library and was instrumental in moving the NGS Book Collection there to further enhance the library’s rich resources.

Ann was a prolific writer and editor. She authored innumerable articles for our StLGS Quarterly, the NGS NewsMagazine and the NGS Quarterly. She served as editor and writer for several of the NGS series of Research in the States books. She wrote family history books for several prominent St. Louis families, and she helped thousands of researchers by writing genealogy classics, The Organized Family Historian and the St. Louis Family History Research Guide. 

She was instrumental in obtaining and organizing the massive collection donated to StLGS by genealogist Robert Parkin. From that collection, she extracted information about early St. Louis, which was published as a series of articles in our StLGS Quarterly, and she, along with two colleagues, edited the society’s The War of 1812 in Missouri books.

Many of the projects that StLGS is most proud of were initiated and flourished because of Ann. She was a guiding force behind the cemetery and congregations projects and an early advocate for a stronger website. She had the ability to persuade and cajole without ever seeming too forward, although most of her friends knew that if she invited you to lunch, you were going to say yes to whatever she asked you to do.

(Personal Note: It was because of Ann that I became StLGS publications director. Throughout the years, she continued to teach me about genealogy research, writing, and editing, but also about courage, persistence, and strength. Our personalities couldn’t have been more different, but we were always there to help each other. Without Ann, our society's publications and projects would not be as polished and professional as we strive to make them; Ann always insisted on the very best, and we continuously try to live up to that expectation. She’s left us with very big shoes to fill!)

We extend our very deepest sympathy to all of Ann’s family: her son and daughter-in-law, Steve and Kim; her daughter Kris; her sisters Carol and Wendy; and her grandsons Cameron and Jackson and their families. 

(Photos by Ilene Murray; used with permission. Above right, Ann in 2014; center, Ann teaching at the StLGS office; bottom, right, Ann is third from left with the turquoise shirt, surrounded by some of her good friends.)