Evelyn A. Riley

Evelyn A. Riley, 94, died July 19, 2022, after surgery to repair a broken hip.
She was born on Sept. 30, 1927, to Mnoah Matthew Riley and Lettie Alice (Turner) Riley on a farm in Eastern Colorado, the fifth of six children. She migrated with her family to a homestead in Weld County, Colo., to escape Dust Bowl conditions. Although Evelyn was an intelligent and inventive child, her early schooling was difficult for her because she had very poor eyesight. Her life changed when she got glasses and was able to learn to read.
Although she worked at Ripley's Believe It Or Not Tower west of Genoa, Evelyn worked for most of her life for Mountain Bell Telephone Company. She started as an operator, often sleeping in the little office in Hudson, Colo., for the night shift. She worked her way up through the company, at one point scouting routes to put in telephone lines through the mountains. She retired from Mountain Bell after a long career.
Evelyn loved to travel. She often took vacations with co-workers or other female friends, driving across the country or taking cruises. She called her first car her "first love," and her last car had a steering wheel cover that said "Princess." Family members recalled her taking a new vehicle off-roading on her brother's farm to see if she could get it stuck. She also rode a motorcycle to work until a serious accident left her in a body cast for several months.
Evelyn lived independently. She built herself a cabin in the mountains near Conifer, Colo., where she lived for many years. She and her widowed sister, Marie, built a house near Parker, Colo., near her nephew Richard Riley and his family. When she moved to Brush, Colo., in the mid-1990s, she remodeled the interior of the home she purchased to make it more open and accessible.
Evelyn loved to work outdoors, gardening and keeping her yard, until she was in her 90s.
Evelyn enjoyed handicrafts such as knitting, crocheting and making quilts. She made blankets for babies in the hospital and was part of a group that made quilts for juveniles in a group home. She took art classes and loved to paint. Any object was an opportunity-she painted gourds and made them into decorative birdhouses. She liked China painting and eventually set up a studio with a kiln. She painted on saw blades and canvases. She refurbished a doll that her brother had given her as a Christmas present as a child, a task that used both her painting and handcrafting expertise. Her paintings were displayed in her home or given as gifts to her many family members, and her quilts now keep relatives warm across the country.
Although she never married and had no children, she was devoted to her family, and she was dearly loved by her nieces and nephews, their children, and their grandchildren. She welcomed these family members to her home, and she was happy to teach them skills like quilting, setting up patterns that would be easy enough for young hands.
Evelyn had a strong testimony of her faith in Christ, and she lived a life of service. She was always happy to bring someone to visit her church. She hosted five-day clubs (a home Vacation Bible School) for neighborhood children in the '80s. When she moved to Brush, she volunteered at the senior center. In recent years, she helped establish a food pantry at her church and volunteered there.
She was the last surviving member of the six children in her family: Clifford Riley, Lee Roy Riley, Lillian "Marie" (Riley) Brookman, Earl Riley and Oliver "Eddie" Riley. She is survived by two sisters-in-law: Iris Riley and Joyce Riley.
Private burial services will be in the Brush Memorial Cemetery prior to a memorial service that is being planned for some time in August. A date and time will be announced as soon as those final decisions have been made.