Disclaimer: All facts gleaned from the filings stated hereafter are only as truthful as the petitioner. The tone of this article expresses a style of writing historically employed by America’s greatest writers and, as such, is for opinion purposes only. No intentional harm is due. Do not read if the topic of divorce (even your own) causes you emotional distress. Continue at your own risk.
There are quiet stories in every courthouse file—this one begins in 1984, in Pierce County, Washington, where Donnell E. Banks and Annette Banks once exchanged vows. Four decades later, that story reached its final chapter in St. Louis County, Missouri, with Donnell filing a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage on October 21, 2025. The long stretch between marriage and this petition holds a silence shaped by time and distance: the couple has lived apart since 1987, with Donnell residing in St. Louis and Annette now in Davenport, Iowa.
In the petition, filed through Attorney Gerald W. Linnenbringer of Ringer Law, Donnell asserts that the marriage is irretrievably broken and that no reasonable chance remains for reconciliation. He confirms there are no children born or adopted of the marriage, and that neither party seeks maintenance. Each retains possession of their own separate property, and Donnell requests the court to approve any existing Marital Settlement Agreement—or, should none exist, to divide their marital property and debts fairly and equitably.
The case carries a tone of finality rather than conflict, an administrative punctuation on a union long concluded in practice. What remains is not bitterness but the quiet formality of closing a file—proof that some endings are not sudden ruptures but the inevitable recognition of a life once shared, now fully apart.
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