Marilyn Alice Riley, 95 of Brownwood, Texas passed away Saturday, September 21, 2024. A Chapel service will be held in the Heartland Funeral Home Chapel, 303 Early Blvd., Early, Texas 76802 at 3:00 PM, Friday, September 27, 2024 with Ron Davis officiating. A graveside service will be held in Elkhart, Kansas in the Elkhart Cemetery at 2:00 PM, Sunday, September 29, 2024 with Ed Richards officiating.
Marilyn was born on July 17, 1929, at the family farmhouse near Gage, Oklahoma, to Lester and Hazel Berry. This was during the beginning of the Great Depression, which influenced everyone’s life during this period. Her mother was a pianist, who started Marilyn on the piano at the early age of 5. Her mother fell ill while Marilyn was in elementary school, leaving her to shoulder many of her mother’s responsibilities at an early age. She did most of the cooking, cleaning, and sewing. She could tell you how many flour sacks you needed to make a dress.
In third grade, her mother was no longer able to attend church, where she had been the pianist, so her father told her she was going to have to be the pianist for the church, since there was no one else to do it. She played the piano for almost every church we attended. During these early years she put her faith in Christ, which was evident throughout her life.
In 1947, she headed to Shawnee, Oklahoma, to attend Oklahoma Baptist University. There she met a young man named Milton “Leon” Riley, who took her to see the greatest invention ever, Soft Serve Ice Cream! He swept her off her feet, and on August 17, 1948, they were married in Gage.
Heading off to Colorado for a romantic honeymoon spent in the back of an old pickup truck with a tarp, they discovered they both loved traveling and camping. They continued to travel and camp throughout their married life, covering 49 states, Canada, and even taking their RV through Copper Canyon, Mexico.
After several years of giving piano, organ, and accordion lessons, Marilyn returned to school, at Panhandle Agricultural and Mechanical College, located in Goodwell, Oklahoma, in 1964. There she received her teaching credentials. Over the next 20 plus years she taught elementary classroom and elementary music. She enjoyed teaching and especially sharing her love of music to children. Her love of music was so strong she was still playing hymns to other residents at Oak Ridge this last year.
Over the years Leon was transferred several times, from Elkhart, Kansas to Beaver, Oklahoma, to Laramie, Wyoming, back to Beaver, finally landing in Liberal, Kansas. They remained in Liberal until after retirement. In 2000, Leon and Marilyn decided to move to Brownwood, Texas to be close to their daughter Kathy and husband Dennis (the favorite son-in-law). Here in Brownwood, they found good friends and a loving church family at Coggin Avenue Baptist Church.
Marilyn is survived by two sons, Steve Riley and wife Judy of Wimauma, Florida, and Cris Riley and wife Betty of Hooker, Oklahoma, daughter-in-law Norma Riley of Pineville, Louisiana, and daughter Kathy Duffy and husband Dennis of Brownwood. She is also survived by grandchildren Crystal, Stephanie, Allison, Jennifer, Colton, Leticia, Alex, Marilyn, and Elizabeth, as well as many great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Lester and Hazel Berry, Husband Milton Leon Riley, Sister Ruth Foster, Brothers George Truett Berry and Robert Berry, Son Tim Riley, and granddaughter Lynn Elliot.
Online condolences can be shared with the family at www.heartlandfuneralhome.net