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.
The quiet unraveling of a five-decade union is rarely abrupt. On May 19, 2025, Carla R. Townsend filed for dissolution of her marriage to Dennis L. Townsend in the Circuit Court of St. Louis City. Their relationship, legally bound since October 27, 1973, had already endured a prolonged separation that began in 1994—more than thirty years ago. The decision to formally end their marriage after such an extended distance reflects a kind of steady erosion, rather than sudden collapse.
Carla, now retired, filed the petition through her attorneys Elaine A. Pudlowski and Rachel J. Thompson of Frankel, Rubin, Klein, Payne & Pudlowski P.C. In a tone that suggests mutual fatigue more than bitterness, she affirmed there is “no reasonable likelihood” that the marriage can be preserved, declaring the relationship irretrievably broken. Dennis, semi-retired himself, does not seek maintenance, nor does Carla.
There are no unemancipated children involved, and no military service complicates their legal paths. The couple, who once shared their lives in St. Louis City, have come to a full agreement on the division of both marital and separate property. Their jointly-prepared Marital Separation Agreement has been submitted for the Court’s approval—an act of closure rendered quietly, but finally, definitive.
In a final gesture of control, the petition requests the Court to simply affirm what time and silence have already settled: that the marriage, long dormant, be officially dissolved.
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