Emily Sue Riley O'Callaghan

1938 - 2021

Emily Sue Riley

O'Callaghan

Aug. 24, 1938 - Dec. 27, 2020

SOUTH BEND, IN -

Emily Sue Riley O'Callaghan, known as Tutu, Granny, Mom, Mother, Moodrah, The Old Bat, and Sue, not Emily, by those who loved her, died on December 27, 2020 at the age of 82 in her home in San Diego, California, where she lived with her youngest son.

Sue is survived by her five children, Jody O'Callaghan, Anne Scheidler, Joe (Jill) O'Callaghan III, Kathleen (Mark) Hennessy, and Riley O'Callaghan; her ten grandchildren: Conor and Stephen Duggan, Sarah (Spencer) Prechter, AJ (Chelsea) Scheidler, Joe (Cheli) O'Callaghan IV, Dylan (Xu) and Joe Hennessy, Ryan (Kyle) Friedman, and Andrew and Kelsey Bates; and her eight great-grandchildren: Liam and Nora Hennessy, James and Everett Prechter, Morgan Scheidler, Alejandro Rodriguez, Isabella and Briseis O'Callaghan.

She is predeceased by her younger sister, Anne Alison Gilson Riley Greene; her seniors-living-in-sin partner, Richard Stettner; her ex-husband and father of her five children, Joseph O'Callaghan Jr.; and her parents, Gilson and Martha Anne Riley.

Sue was born in Van Buren, Arkansas in 1938, but grew up a rambunctious child in Memphis, Tennessee, where she graduated from East High School, active in all things social, including membership in Sigma Kappa Sigma high school sorority, the “Sweet Kissing Sisters”, as told to her children and grandchildren. She married her high school sweetheart, Joe, a Christian Brothers College graduate, during their separate freshman years at college. That prematurely ended her college career at Lindenwood, to her lifetime regret, but brought her firmly into the Notre Dame family in South Bend, on to the “corporate gypsy” life that had them live in the Chicago area and Pittsburgh before settling back into South Bend, until they emptied the nest and moved on to other adventures. Through Joe's work and for pleasure, they traveled internationally much to her delight. After some time in Chicago, where she met Richard, she purchased and operated Riley's Hallmark store in the Sacramento area of California for a decade before moving to and spending a number of years in San Francisco, before finally settling in San Diego for her golden years.

She made an impression. She wasn't easily forgotten. “Cheap” by her own assessment but incredibly generous to all those she loved or cared for and many she didn't. She was a hoot, a ton of fun, and funny to boot. She loved a good joke -- the spicier or sillier, the better. She was a Mom and Grandmother before all but was incredibly proud of her charity work, her time as a “corporate wife”, and her own business. She was a proud freethinking agnostic who said her prayers every night. She was a “gregarious loner” who kept her own and others' secrets (mostly). At the same time, she was incredibly open and engaging with everyone she met. She was a functional cook, who kept her children fed without killing them, but loved a good meal out, which she'd happily buy. She loved the family reunions that she sponsored every other year or so, after beginning the tradition with Joe. She was a great friend who maintained lifelong relationships with those she connected. She was fiercely loyal but no pushover. She wasn't a hugger or all too prone to great emotion herself but was always a shoulder or ear to those who needed it. She will be missed terribly by all who knew her and will live in all our hearts and memories.

Memorial service will be held at a later date. In honor of her memory, donations may be made in her name to the Alzheimer's Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave., Fl. 17, Chicago, IL 60601 or https://act.alz.org/site/TR/Events/Tributes-AlzheimersChampions?pxfid=662026&fr_id=1060&pg=fund.