Sharon Riley

1944 - 2025

Sharon Riley
09/02/1944 - 12/08/2025
Sharon Dunn Riley, 81, passed away peacefully on Monday, December 8, 2025 in Fort Worth, TX surrounded by family. Sharon was born to Walker Aaron Dunn and Mona Heidelberg Dunn in Big Spring, TX on September 2, 1944. She graduated from Austin High School in Austin, TX in 1962 and married her high school sweetheart, Homer F. Riley, Jr. ("Butch") in August 1963. She attended the Austin Secretarial School and worked for a law firm to support the family while Butch attended the University of Texas at Austin.
Living in Austin until Butch's retirement from Tracor/BAE Systems, Sharon and Butch raised one daughter, Michele. Sharon volunteered frequently in Michele's schools, was an active member and Sunday school teacher at Koenig Lane Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and participated in leadership roles in the Bluebonnet Area Disciples Women's Ministries. She also enjoyed recreational bowling leagues and volunteering in the community. In the 1990s, she took great joy in the birth of her grandchildren, Pearce and Annie Edwards, whom she showered with love and support for the rest of her life.
Sharon had a lifelong love of traveling which she especially enjoyed after Butch's retirement. Always planning her next trip, her adventures included travels to Europe, Asia, Australia, Central America, and, most recently, a trans-Canadian railroad trip with Michele. In her later years she resided in Albuquerque, NM before eventually returning to her beloved home state of Texas in summer 2025.
She is survived by her brother, Walker Aaron Dunn, Jr. (Pat); her daughter Michele Edwards (Carter); grandchildren Pearce Edwards (Kathryn) and Annie Edwards; found family Rana Chan (Colton); great-grandchildren Caroline Edwards and Elizabeth Edwards; and numerous relations in West Texas of whom she had an encyclopedic knowledge. She was preceded in death by Butch, husband of 56 years, and her parents.
In honor of her love of cats, donations in her memory are welcome to the Midland Humane Coalition (https://www.midlandhumane.org/donate.html).
A visitation will be held at Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home (3800 N Big Spring St, Midland, TX 79705) on Friday, December 12, 2025 from 5-7 PM. The funeral service will be held at Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home Chapel on Saturday, December 13, 2025 at 2 PM. A reception will follow at the Branch at npw.
Arrangements are under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home & Crematory of Midland. Online condolences may be made at www.npwelch.com.