Elinor Riley

Elinor Riley, 75, of Gresham and Cove, died of cancer Jan. 1 at her daughter's home in Hillsboro.

Her memorial Mass will begin at 11 a.m. Jan. 16 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Union.

Elinor was born June 22, 1934, to Harrison and Anah (Tice) Molby in Manhattan, Kan. She graduated from Grant High School in Portland and married John Riley in 1953. They moved their family to Union County in 1974.

Elinor worked several office jobs through the years, but most treasured her work as a community volunteer and doing social service outreach. She served on the Union City Planning Commission and as chaperone for the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show Rodeo Court for several years. In the 1970s, she led fundraising efforts for the Sacred Heart Catholic Church Building Fund. More recently, she served on the Parish Finance Committee and worked with the Union Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity and other worthy causes.

The 1980s recession hit the Riley family hard, and John and Elinor had to leave Union County for a time or risk losing their home. Already a child of the Depression, this experience deepened Elinor's belief that anyone suffering poor health or misfortune could lose everything.

In 2005 she underwent rigorous treatment for cancer. She believed her survival was a gift from God and credited her many friends and family members for their prayers. She started a prayer list through her church that she conducted via e-mail.

Following her cancer survival, she and John traveled on several Catholic tours - to Ireland, the home of their ancestors, with their daughter Suzan and friends, and to Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. The past several years, they attended church retreats in Anaheim, Calif.

In recent years, she became a Democratic activist - working on the Obama campaign.

She checked her e-mail five times a day and could not understand people who don't. She served as secretary for the Union County Democratic Central Committee.

Elinor is survived by her husband, John Riley; sons and daughters-in-law, John and Sharon Riley of Park City, Utah, Michael and Sherry Riley of Union, Kevin and Jennifer Riley of Milton-Freewater and Patrick and Christina Riley of Washougal, Wash.; by daughters and sons-in-law, Kathleen and Lawrence Cathey of La Grande, and Suzan and Mark Hopman of Hillsboro; 11 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; four step-grandchildren; and six step-great-grandchildren.

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