 Thomas Morgan Riley, Jr., 89, Independence, Mo., passed away Jan. 17, 2013. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, at the First Presbyterian Church of Independence, 100 N. Pleasant, Independence, MO 64050. Visitation will follow the service. A private burial will take place at Woodlawn Cemetery at a later date. Tom was born Oct. 9, 1923, in McGehee, Ark. He graduated from Little Rock High School in 1942. He attended Arkansas State Teachers College before earning a B.A. from Louisiana State University in 1950. He earned an M.A. from George Peabody College for Teachers in 1952 and later attended Kansas City University He served as a classroom teacher in Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri before serving as an elementary school principal for 30 years. Twenty- eight of those years were serving the Independence School District at Oldham, Hanthorne, McCoy and Glendale Elementary schools. Tom was a Master Mason at VanLeer, Tenn., and Lodge #76 in Independence. He earned his amateur Radio Operators license, Advanced Class in 1969 and was a member of the Army Military Affiliate Radio System. He was certified by the Library of Congress as a Braille transcriber on June 20, 1989, and transcribed for the Beth Shalom Sisterhood Braille Committee, the Reorganized Church of Later Days Saints in Independence and the Kansas State School for the Blind. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Independence since joining in May, 1954 and was an ordained Deacon, a member of the Board of Trustees, an ordained Elder and a Clerk of Session. He was the President of the Independence Community Teachers Assoc. from 1958-59; President of the Independence Retired Teachers Assoc. from 1992-94 and President of the Independence Knife and Fork Club from 1993-94. He was a U.S. Army veteran of WWII. Tom was preceded in death by his parents, Thomas M. Riley, Sr. and Annie Myrtle (Trimm) Riley and sisters, Elizabeth I. (Riley) Ison and Martha Ann (Riley) Jackson. He is survived by wife, Alice Marie (Bangert) Riley, Independence; children, Grace Anne (Riley) Price, Ga., Coleman Alan Riley, Fremont, Calif.; step-children, Lance B. Powell, Anchorage, Alaska, Dean F. Powell, Prairie Village, Kan., David L. Bangert, St. Louis, Mo., Dr. Jean Marie Hampton, Overland Park, Kan., and Joan Mann of Manhattan, Kan.; nine grandchildren and four great- grandchildren. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.speakschapel.com Arrangements: Speaks Suburban Chapel, (816) 373-3600. Speaks Suburban Funeral Home, 18020 E 39th St, Independence, MO 64051, 816-373-3600
Published in Kansas City Star on January 19, 2013
![]() |
|
Bookmark this memorial on Facebook with the My Memorials™ application. My Memorials™ helps you honor departed family members, friends, and even favorite celebrities – all on your Facebook page.
|
Thank you. You have now memorialized on Facebook.
 |
The My Memorials Facebook app allows you to:
- Connect with memorials that are important to you.
- Get updates on your memorials in your Facebook News Feed.
- Share your memories with your Facebook friends.
|
|
|
|
You are searching
|
 |
|
|
