Leon “Jigger” Sirois spent years chasing a spot in the Indianapolis 500 field, only to watch his best qualifying runs get waved off or bumped out at the last moment. He died September 23 at age 91, but it turns out the race he quietly won had nothing to do with a checkered flag — it was a promise he made at age 15 to help children who stutter, one he kept secret until after his death.
Sirois stuttered for most of his life, according to IndyStar, and he vowed as a teenager to someday put money aside for kids facing the same struggle. He kept that vow close for decades, planning to support children who stutter. His planned donation was part of that long-held pledge.
His obituary confirms the shape of that long-held pledge. Sirois started two foundations to carry out his goal, one connected to Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk, Virginia, and another tied to St. Vincent in his native Indiana, according to a Legacy.com obituary. As a child, the obituary notes, he developed a severe stutter and vowed at a young age to someday financially help children who stutter.
A Childhood Tornado and a Promise That Took Root
Sirois was born in 1935 in Lake County, Indiana, and his stutter began during a tornado scare near his hometown when he was 3, according to IndyCar. He went on to stutter for most of his life before overcoming it through therapy at age 65 — treatment he underwent in 2000, according to the Stuttering Foundation, helped him break free of a lifelong problem. He also enrolled in a 19-day class in Roanoke, Virginia, IndyStar reports.
Once he found his own voice, Sirois turned to helping others find theirs. The Stuttering Foundation notes he spent his later years advocating for public awareness of stuttering, education and early intervention — work that echoes guidance from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, which says early treatment may prevent developmental stuttering from becoming a lifelong problem. The institute also notes certain strategies can help children improve fluency while building positive attitudes toward communication.
Sirois and his wife, Juanita, donated 30 self-help stuttering therapy packets, each costing $50, to public libraries in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, sending 10 packets to each city, per IndyStar's reporting. He also spoke as a keynote speaker at conventions in nine states, at one point addressing an audience of more than 1,000 people, the outlet reports. The couple also gave to the Ascension St. Vincent Foundation, according to the same account.
Peyton Manning himself called Sirois to thank him for his planned donation, IndyStar reports — a detail that underscores just how far word of his quiet generosity had traveled, even as Sirois kept the dollar amount under wraps. Peyton Manning Children's Hospital is part of Ascension St. Vincent.
The Qualifying Runs That Never Quite Counted
Long before his philanthropy came to light, Sirois built a reputation as one of racing's great near-misses. He first attempted to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in 1969, posting three laps between 160 and 162 mph, according to IndyCar. Car owner Myron Caves waved off that final lap over a perceived lack of speed, negating the run entirely, per the same report.
IndyStar's account adds further texture to that heartbreak: Caves waved off his run, and rain returned afterward, stopping subsequent track activity. Under the rules then in place, his reported qualifying average would have made him the pole-sitter. He encountered mechanical problems on later qualifying attempts that year. Sirois continued trying through 1975, without making the field.
IndyCar's obituary states Sirois attempted to qualify every year from 1969 through 1975 without ever making a start. In 1974, he came closest yet, temporarily sitting in the field at 173.360 mph before getting bumped by Johnny Parsons Jr., according to a 1989 Los Angeles Times report. Racing lore even produced an annual “Jigger Award,” presented to the most hapless driver in the field, per IndyCar.
A Working Life Away From the Track
Off the track, Sirois made 10 USAC Champ Car starts with a best finish of fifth at Phoenix in 1969, and he won four championships in 1961, including the UARA midget title, according to IndyCar. He was inducted into the National Midget Racing Hall of Fame in 2013. Between racing pursuits, he worked as a pipe fitter and welder for Amoco Oil in Yorktown, Virginia.
Sirois worked for decades to overcome the condition that shaped his life's second mission. Those wishing to continue that mission can send checks to CHKD, mailed to the CHKD Philanthropy Office, PO Box 2156, Norfolk, VA 23501-2156, for the Sirois Fluency Success Fund, according to the obituary. Donations to the Sirois Pediatric Fluency Fund can also be sent to the Ascension St. Vincent Foundation at 250 W. 96th St., Indianapolis, IN 46260.
