Leslie Arthur Black

Leslie Arthur Black of Charleston, age 89, passed away at home with his wife of 43 years, Nancy (Goldstein) Black, by his side on August 8, 2020. Born Dec 30 1930 in St. Louis, MO. Les is also survived by Eileen Jurewicz, the mother of his 5 children: Christine (Michael) Carpineillo (New York), Barbara (Brian) Leary (Connecticut), Wright Black (Florida), Denise Calcanis (New Mexico), and Lisa (Mark) Dawn (Florida); 8 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren. We consider ourselves very fortunate that he, Nancy and our mother became good friends so that all visits and occasions were celebrated with joy. Les is additionally survived by several in laws and numerous nieces and nephews. In their 43 adventurous years together, Les and Nancy lived on a sailboat for a number of years, restored their classic Charleston home, created their Charleston garden oasis and traveled all over the world. We never knew where they'd be off to next! Les decided as a teenager to become an architect and graduated from Washington University where he studied under his mentor and future partner, George Schmidt. Les designed numerous churches, schools and businesses in Missouri; the crowning jewel being Kirkwood Methodist Church in 1964. After moving to New York in 1969, among many other projects, he was the Chief Coordinating Architect for the development of Roosevelt Island. Les moved to Syracuse NY in 1975 where he met and married Nancy. They moved to Charleston in 1981.There he was a Project Director/Designer at LS3P Architects, working on many military, Federal prison and community projects until his retirement in 1995. After long work weeks, Les enjoyed sailing and camping. His love of classical music, in particular, was evident when you could hear lovely music playing as he worked around their home. His custom cabinetry skills were amazing. Later in life, he renewed his interest in painting and created beautiful South Carolina Low Country-spaces. Les loved to visit family all across the US. and blessed all of our lives with his visits. It was very special to have a husband/brother-in-law/dad/granddad/great-granddad, uncle and father who eagerly and joyfully designed and renovated everything from cabinets to entire homes whenever we asked for help! Due to Covid 19 a celebration of his life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your favorite charity.