Lloyd Stephen Riford Jr.

1924 - 2025

Lloyd Stephen Riford, Jr.

February 29, 1924 - July 20, 2025

Born in Auburn, New York on February 29, 1924, Lloyd Stephen Riford, Jr. passed away in Kihei, Maui, HI on July 20, 2025. He was 101 years old.

"Steve" Riford attended a one-room school in Half Acre, New York from kindergarten to 8th grade. He was a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and Princeton University, with additional graduate work at Cornell University and Dartmouth College.

He was a World War II veteran, and served as an ambulance driver in the American Field Service from 1942-1945 in the Middle East, North Africa, Sicily and Italy, France and Germany. He worked for the Beacon Milling Company in Cayuga, New York for 20 years, becoming Vice President and part owner. He served as President of his family's Greystone Farm and Auburn Guernsey Farms, which included a dairy processing company, retail store and restaurant. He served 8 terms in the New York State Legislature as an Assemblyman and Senator. He represented five counties in Central New York.

He was active in community and service organizations, and served on several boards of directors including as Chairman of the Cayuga County (NY) Planning Board. He also served as Vice Chairman of the Central NY Regional Planning Board (for Cayuga, Onondaga, Madison, and Cortland Counties), on the Seymour Library Board of Trustees (as Secretary/Treasurer of that Auburn, NY library), the Auburn, NY YMCA Board of Directors, the Wells College (NY) Board of Trustees, and as Deacon of Keawala'i Congregational Church in Kihei, Maui. He received several awards and recognitions over his many years of constituent and community service.

Steve Riford was married for 50 years to Susan Crawford Riford, who passed away in 1997. He married Joan Chayka Riford in 1999. She passed away in 2021.

He is survived by his three children: Suzanne Riford Toman of Los Angeles (actor Suzanne Ford), Lloyd Stephen "Sandy" Riford of Oahu, and Thomas B. Riford of Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. He has numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Steve Riford volunteered as an American Field Service ambulance driver at the onset of WWII in 1942, when he turned 18. He helped save numerous lives during his four years of wartime service.

In honor of Steve Riford's 100th birthday, the American Field Service in 2024 wrote: "AFS-USA proudly celebrates the life of Steve Riford-a WWII American Field Service ambulance driver...we acknowledge Steve not only for his humanity and acts of heroism during the war but for a lifetime of service to others, which has included transforming the lives of generations of young people."

The New York State Senate presented this resolution for his 100th birthday in 2024: https://www.nysenate.gov/print/pdf/node/12030701.