Simon Lawrence Leis

Simon L. Leis Jr. served Hamilton County, Ohio, as its Sheriff for a quarter century, appointed in 1987 and elected six times from 1988 to 2008. Before that he was an assistant Cincinnati city prosecutor and solicitor, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney from 1971, and a judge of the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas from 1982. A Marine officer, he landed at Red Beach near Khalde and helped secure Beirut International Airport on 15 July 1958 during the Lebanon crisis. He died in Cincinnati on 27 June 2026, aged 92, after a four-year battle with cancer.

Born in Cincinnati on 12 June 1934 to Simon Leis Sr., a Hamilton County Common Pleas judge, and Ida (Pilger) Leis, he graduated from St. Xavier High School in 1952, Xavier University in 1956, and Salmon P. Chase Law School in 1965.

Predeceased by his son, Simon III. Survived by his wife of nearly 70 years, Margery; his children Julie (Raleigh), Jill (Franke) and Jodie (George); his grandchildren Kyle (Natalie) Raleigh, Chelsea, Carter, Francis Simon, Hal Samuel, Lonny Elijah, McKensie (Johnathan) Lahrman, Bailey (Nathan) Eckberg and Remington; his great-grandchildren Wrenley and Rhett; and his sister, Ida Jane Staley.