The Stuttering Foundation has lost a longtime friend and tireless ambassador. Leon “Jigger” Sirois, the race car driver who turned his fame at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway into an opportunity to help people who stutter, died Sept. 23, 2026, in Williamsburg, Virginia. He was 91.

For years, Jigger made it his mission to let people know that stuttering help was available. He purchased Foundation books and DVDs for public libraries, shared resources with people he met in everyday life, and spoke openly about his own experiences with stuttering. His enthusiasm brought the Foundation’s work to readers, racing fans and families who might otherwise never have found it.

“Jigger wanted families to know where to turn for help, and he spent years making sure they could find it,” said Jane Fraser, president of the Stuttering Foundation. “We are grateful for his generosity and the care he showed for others who stutter. He was a dear friend, and we will miss him.”

Born April 16, 1935, in Shelby, Indiana, Jigger grew up in a racing family. His father, Earl “Frenchy” Sirois, was an Indianapolis 500 mechanic. Named for driver Leon Duray, Jigger became a successful midget racer and was inducted into the National Midget Racing Hall of Fame in 2013.

His place in Indianapolis 500 history came from an extraordinary disappointment. In 1969, his qualifying run was waved off just before rain halted the day’s activity. Had he completed the run, he would have been the weekend’s only qualifier and held the provisional pole position. He never started the race, despite returning to try to qualify through 1975. His good sportsmanship helped inspire the annual “Jigger Award” for a driver’s hard luck during qualifying.

Jigger found a lasting purpose in the attention that followed. After receiving speech therapy in 2000, he became an enthusiastic advocate for public understanding of stuttering and early help for children. When AutoWeek featured him in 2006, the resulting interest brought a flood of calls to the Foundation. Years later, people were still finding help through that story.

“Stuttering has evolved into a major gift for me,” he told the Foundation. “I wouldn’t change it now even if I could go back.”

Public libraries held a special place in his efforts. Jigger understood that a book on a shelf could put reliable information within reach of a family looking for answers. He supported collections from Indiana and West Virginia to Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library. In Rensselaer, Indiana, a display of Foundation materials drew local newspaper coverage of both stuttering and Jigger’s work. 

His wife, Juanita, shared his commitment. In one especially ambitious effort, the couple donated nearly 600 Foundation books and DVDs, valued at almost $4,000, beginning in November 2010. They made the gifts in Oprah Winfrey’s honor, choosing library systems in communities connected with her life. Jigger hoped she would mention the Foundation’s website and helpline on her program, bringing help to a much wider audience. The Foundation’s account described the receiving systems as encompassing nearly 500 branch locations.

He was equally comfortable sharing information with a swimming coach, a store clerk, his physician or fellow Toastmasters. In 2014, he was a keynote speaker at the Missouri Speech-Language-Hearing Association convention, where the MSHA Cares campaign raised money for the Foundation. A Virginia Gazette profile of his advocacy also received an honorable mention in the Foundation’s 2013 journalism awards.

His commitment to children extended to financial support for speech therapy. His obituary identifies the Sirois Pediatric Fluency Fund at Ascension St. Vincent Foundation in Indianapolis and the Sirois Fluency Success Fund at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters in Norfolk, Virginia. Those funds carry forward a wish he had held since childhood: to help children who stutter.

Jigger is survived by his wife, Juanita. Through the resources he placed in libraries, the families he encouraged and his support for children’s therapy, he leaves the stuttering community a lasting legacy of practical help and hope.

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Posted Oct. 21, 2026