James David Riley, Sr.'s Obituary
James D. Riley, Sr. was born on June 17, 1030 in Portland, Oregon to John & Ruith Marcy Riley.
He died at his home in St. Helens on February 4, 2009 at the age of 78.
He moved to St. Helens when he was 3 years old and lived here ever since. He attended McBride Grade School and St. Helens High School. During his school days he was the president of the Columbia County Teenage Club for 2 years and Master of Demolay. In his sophmore year he became an apprentice typesetter at the Chronicle for Paul Paulson. After graduation he went to work as an administrative assistant for the Oregon National Guard...his boss was Dick Miller who later became Adjutant General of the Oregon State Guard.
He joined the Army and ended up as an intellegence Sgt. with the 378th Engineers in Korea. He went from PFC to Sgt. 1st class in just 6 months. He came back to Ft. Lewis in 1952 and it was on a trip home that he met his wife-to-be, Claris. They married on February 20, 1953 in Vancouver, WA. In 1964 he was discharged and went to work at the Crown Zellerbach plywood plant for 3 years. On April 6, 1967 he joined Boise Cascade and worked in the finishing room for about a year. He bid into the Power & Recovery and stayed in that department until his retirement in 1988, for a total of 21 years.
His enjoyments included a large bell collection and early on he was a member of the Eagles, the Moose and the Masons. He also enjoyed dancing, fishing and woodworking.
Survivors include: 3 sons: James D. Riley, Jr. of San Antonio, TX.; Jeff & Jerry Riley of St. Helens; 2 sisters: Rachael Runyan of Yankton, Violet Young of Albany, OR.; Brother: Bud Riley of St. Helens, OR.; 4 grandchildren and many dear friends.
Celebration of Life: Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 1:00 PM at Columbia Funeral Home
Committal service & interment: Columbia Memorial Gardens Cemetery-Scappoose, OR.
Potluck: following service at the Kozy Corner Cafe.
on-line condolences may be made to the family at www.columbiafh.com
Columbia Funeral Home-Directors
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