Adam Olin Riser Jr.

1938 - 2025

Adam Olin Riser, Jr.
03/23/1938 - 09/06/2025
Adam Olin Riser, Jr. passed away peacefully in Houston, Texas on the 6th of September 2025. Olin was a loved and devoted son, husband, father and grandfather. He was the son of Adam Olin Riser, Sr. and Myrtice Horn Riser and was born in 1938 in Talladega, Alabama. He grew up on his beloved Wewoka Farm in Alpine, Alabama. His family acquired the property through a land grant during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. As an only child, Olin's formative years were deeply shaped by life on the farm, instilling in him a lifelong love of the land, a strong work ethic, and a humble, grounded spirit. Wewoka remained a place of deep meaning throughout his life and he spent considerable time there in his later years.
He attended high school as a boarding student at Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. There he was introduced to the love of his life by a friend and classmate. Susan London was from Johnson City, Tennessee so their bond began through letters and visits and blossomed into a 63-year marriage full of love, partnership and adventure. Olin earned a business degree from Auburn University and he and Susan were married in 1962.
Olin and Susan spent brief periods of their early married years in New York City and Johnson City, and then settled in Shreveport, Louisiana. Olin embarked on a career in medical sales that included stints with two large companies and then the creation of his own business. The family spent time in Covington, Louisiana and ultimately settled in Houston. After the children graduated from college, the couple relocated to Atlanta where they relished being close to family and old friends. They returned to Houston in 2017 to be close to their three grandchildren.
Olin was a generally soft-spoken and kind-hearted man with a streak of determination and will inherited from his father. His hobbies and interests throughout life seemed to be borne out of his upbringing on the family farm. He never shied away from hard work, enjoyed physical toils, and had a natural talent for mechanical processes. This meant that he generally took it upon himself to fix things around the house and was successful, at least most of the time. In his retirement years, he developed a love of gardening and turned the lot of their hilltop home in Atlanta into his own personal arboretum. This included a collection of dwarf conifers, tiered planting beds and remnants from Wewoka Farm including 19th century millstones. During these years, he also took great pride in a 1962 vintage Porsche 356 that he purchased on a whim. He would drive the car around Atlanta with his dog Charlie riding shotgun.
Above all, he was a loving and devoted family man who took tremendous pride in the achievements, both large and small, of his children and grandchildren. He cheered his daughter's artistic interests and later her competitive kayaking feats and spent countless hours throwing the football, shooting baskets, and generally supporting any athletics his son loved. As a rural farm boy, these were new and unusual pursuits which he took on wholeheartedly to best support his children. He brought the same enthusiasm and pride in his grandchildren's interests and accomplishments and loved hearing their stories. They called him Gheedaddy and their presence always brought a twinkly-eyed grin to his face and occasional soft, shoulder-shaking laughter.
Olin is survived by his wife, Susan London Riser, his daughter Jameson Riser and her partner Christina McDonnell, his son Carleton Riser and his wife Winifred, and by their children and his grandsons Robert, Mac and Carleton.
The family will gather for a memorial service in Houston with details to be shared at a later date.