Fallen Graver

Sadly, Lillie Riney has passed away. Please consider visiting their Find a Grave memorial page and leaving some virtual flowers. Their enthusiasm for cemeteries and willingness to help future generations lives on through their contributions to Find a Grave.

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I am the mother of 7 children, the grandmother of 23, & great grandmother of 15. I was employed by the US Postal Service for 30 years & retired in 2001. I have been interested in genealogy for most of my life & actively researching since 1989 on Riney, Gleeson, Bick, Hess, McDaniel, Nall, Gruber, & Tuley. Also Simpson, Brislin, Sinn, Eck, McClure, Abell, Margadant, & Broy, as well as numerous others.

I am a devout Roman Catholic so often leave religious memorials. If any of my entries offends you, please let me know, and I'll remove it or replace it. Thanks.

NOTE: Anything I have posted on Find-A-Grave or rootsweb is intended to be used. Please consider this as permission to use any of my information.

I suffer from Asperger's Syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome; chronic, clinical depression; and anxiety, so please understand if it takes a while for me to respond. I will address all issues.

Written by Lillie:
I am the daughter of Henry Louis Riney & Leta Mildred McDaniel. My first daughter was born out of wedlock. I married Donald William Richards on 30 January 1965 & we had 6 children. We divorced in 1981 & our marriage was annulled by the Catholic Church.

When Dr. Jennings was summoned to the Riney farm near Derrahs, MO, on 11 February 1944, to assist a mother in childbirth, it was a very cold and windy day. The roads were badly drifted over, and he had to return to town to get a couple of high school boys to go with him, and they cut the fences and went through the fields. I was that baby, and as a small child, when asked when my birthday was, I always replied, "On the 11th till February on an awful cold day."

My parents were Henry Louis Riney and Leta Mildred McDaniel They already had two children, Rose, aged 5, and Bill, aged 3. I was named Lillie Ann in honor of my two grandmothers, Lillie Edith Bick and Anna Bea Gruber. Unfortunately, my Riney grandparents were deceased by the time I was born, but I loved and cherished my McDaniel grandparents, and many of my happiest childhood memories are of the hours and days spent with them.

I loved our old, weather-beaten house with the wild rose bush in one corner of the yard and the lilac bush in the other, the irises under the black walnut tree, the jack-in-the-pulpit under the grape vines and the big cedar tree with the swing in the front yard. As soon as you heard the first whippoorwills in the spring, you could go barefoot. It was so cozy to hide away alone upstairs and listen to the rain on the tin roof of the front porch, to secrete oneself under the hanging branches of the weeping willow tree by the pond with a good book, or to steal away to the hayloft in the barn. The house had a large, screened-in back porch where we sometimes moved the old, wooden table with its oil-cloth covered top in the summer time to take advantage of the breeze from the windows and the crossdraft through the living room windows.

There were wild cherry trees in the lane and blackberry bushes and even a bush of bittersweet. There were woods where you could hunt mushrooms, pick wildflowers, or wade in the creek. May apple leaves made great pretend umbrellas, and the puffballs were fun to step on. In the summer when water in the cistern had to be conserved, you could walk down to the pasture and pump all the water you wanted from the "living well," which Mama said would never run dry. It was fun to cool off in but not good to drink, as the water from it was hard. I also loved to walk through the tall grass where the little grasshoppers would quickly jump out of the way as you passed.

I was born during World War II, and I heard people talk about the Japs often enough that I was scared of them and used to try to imagine where I would hide if I saw the Japs coming down the road. Sometimes Mama would iron my pajamas when I was getting ready to go to bed, and Mama and Daddy sometimes came outside and played ball with us or annie over.

I was always a precocious child, and I could recite "'Twas the Night before Christmas," and write my name in cursive by the time I was five years old. Sometimes Rose brought books home from school for me to read. Mama and Daddy slept in the living room and kept a nightlight burning on the wall for the new baby. I remember slipping off to sit under the nightlight in the middle of the night to read so I wouldn't disturb anyone.

Even though we were poor, Christmas was a magical time. We'd go into the woods and chop down our Christmas tree and bring it home on the sled through the snow. We'd string popcorn to drape on the tree, and with the other ornaments, the lights, and the phosphorescent icicles, it set a small child's heart aglow. Then we'd get up in the middle of the night and go to midnight Mass, and when we got home, Santa Claus had been there and left candy, nuts, oranges, and one gift for each child. We had already had Christmas the Sunday before at Grandma's house with Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle Kenny and Aunt Dorothy. Grandma had wonderful, bubbling lights on her tree. She always made a huge Sunday dinner with pineapple dream, and there was always everyone's favorite homemade candy, geneva cream. Santa came and distributed gifts to each child from Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Kenny. Grandma let each child pick whatever he or she wanted from the Aldens Christmas catalog as long as it didn't cost more than $2.00. Christmas was never quite the same after the summer when Bernie and I discovered the Santa Claus suit stored away in a box in Grandma's attic.

I was sickly as a child and had to take cod liver oil. I also had a severe breathing problem, probably asthma, and had to have my tonsils and adenoids removed before I was old enough to start school. I remember Mama staying at the hospital with me and my being indignant at being put in a crib.

I remember my mother's taking me one day in 1950, to St. Patrick, to talk to the principal about having me start second grade instead of first, since I already knew how to read, write, add, and subtract. I spent six days in first grade before being promoted. I was never really quite as happy after starting to school. I was a plump child and very sensitive, and the jibes of the other children cut deeply. Besides being chubby and wearing patched and darned clothes, I was never discreet or modest enough to play down my intelligence, and this created a barrier between me and most of my peers.

One snowy evening during third grade when the bus dropped us off from school, my legs hurt so badly that I couldn't walk through the lane to the house. I sat down in the snow and waited for Mama and Daddy to come home from work. They took me to Dr. Todd at Williamstown, and he said I had polio. At the hospital, they said it was bronchial pneumonia, and again Mama stayed with me, and I recovered with no lasting ill effects.

In 1952, our precious daddy unexpectedly died, and I still remember so clearly seeing him lying in his coffin in the corner of our living room. I remember blaming him for leaving us, and I will always miss him.

In 1955, my mother made the bewildering decision to leave our dear home. She bought a one-bedroom trailer, and we moved forty miles away to Edina, MO. I wanted to stay and live with Grandma and Grandpa, but they were too old to keep me. At night, I dreamed about being back at our old home. Even though the house is now falling down and deserted, I still dream about that. It was a happy home. We lived in the 26-foot trailer for 1½ years and then returned to the old farm. Soon afterward, my special grandpa died.

While living in Edina, Mom had met Francis Gibbons, and they married in 1958, and she sold the farm, and we moved to Gregory Landing. Because Francis and I did not get along, I left home in August 1960, and went to California to live with my brother Bill and his wife Joyce to finish my last year of high school.

After graduation and spending a few years in the work force, I married Donald William Richards in 1965, and we lived for the first couple of years in his hometown of Coshocton, OH. I wanted to return to California, but he didn't like it there, so we stayed only one year then returned to Missouri.

After having held several jobs in offices, factories, and restaurants, I had the opportunity to begin work at the Post Office in Springfield, IL, in 1971, and we left Canton so I could take this job. In August 2001, I retired after spending thirty years there, and I am happily enjoying my retirement.

Unfortunately, my marriage ended in divorce, and I now live happily alone and pursue my hobbies of genealogy, reading, and spending time with my grandchildren.

Although I have traveled extensively in the United States and abroad, there will never be a place as dear to me as the "old farm."

I am still living, just wanted to enter myself in my future burial place so I could connect myself to my parents.

Grandmother of Liliane Skaleski. Grandmother of Melissa Moore. Grandmother of Justin Sharp.

Lillie Ann Riney, 75, of Springfield, Illinois departed this life on Wednesday, January 29, 2020 at 6:47 PM. She was born February 11, 1944 in Lewis Co., MO, the daughter of Henry Louis Riney and Leta Mildred McDaniel. She married Donald William Richards on January 30, 1965 in Coshocton, OH. They later divorced. She was preceded in death by her parents, Peck and Leta; ex-husband Don Richards in 2019, one sister Rose Heritage in 2004; one brother Bill Riney in 1993, one brother Bob Gibbons in 2015, and one sister Bernie Murphy in 2018; four grandchildren, Liliane Skaleski in 1988, Melissa Moore in 1994, Austin Losorelli in 2013, Justin Sharp in 2014; two great-grandchildren, Zachary Pickford and Roderick Lang in 2019, and loving friend and companion Ed Hohenstein in 2013. Lillie grew up in the Lewis Co. MO area and attended school at Williamstown, Canton, St. Patrick, and Monrovia, CA. She had lived in Springfield since 1971 and retired in 2001 after 30 years with the United States Postal Service. She was an avid genealogist for many years and was especially proud of her descent from Charlemagne. She had been a volunteer in the past, reading for the blind and working with the homeless. She was a multi-gallon blood donor and was devoted to the defense of the unborn. Survivors include 4 daughters, Monika McLaughlin and husband Joe of Winthrop, ME, Phyllis Losorelli and husband Joe of Stevenson Ranch CA; Shannon Richards and companion Irving Dawson, and Mary Griffith and companion Mike Jenkins of Springfield IL; 3 sons Donald Richards, Jr. and wife Watana Atthachariyakul of Fair Oaks Ranch CA, Christopher Richards and wife Jody of Springfield IL, Anthony Richards and wife Dana of Riverton IL; and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held at Arnold’s Funeral Home in Canton, MO, from 5 until 8:30 PM on Friday evening with rosary at 8 PM. A solemn Requiem Latin Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 AM Saturday, February 8, 2020 at Shrine of St Patrick Catholic Church, St. Patrick, MO with Father John P. Trough of Lacey’s Spring, AL officiating. Lillie will be buried at St Patrick Cemetery, St. Patrick, MO beside her father and mother.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jul 9 2021, 6:33:06 UTC

Lillie Ann Riney, 75, of Springfield, Illinois departed this life on Wednesday, January 29, 2020 at 6:47 PM for a sojourn in purgatory, from where she urgently entreats your prayers for a quick release.

She was born February 11, 1944 in Lewis Co., MO, the daughter of Henry Louis Riney and Leta Mildred McDaniel. She married Donald William Richards on January 30, 1965 in Coshocton, OH. They later divorced.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Peck and Leta; ex-husband Don Richards in 2019, one sister Rose Heritage in 2004; one brother Bill Riney in 1993, one brother Bob Gibbons in 2015, and one sister Bernie Murphy in 2018; four grandchildren, Liliane Skaleski in 1988, Melissa Moore in 1994, Austin Losorelli in 2013, Justin Sharp in 2014; two great-grandchildren, Zachary Pickford and Roderick Lang in 2019, and loving friend and companion Ed Hohenstein in 2013.

Lillie grew up in the Lewis Co. MO area and attended school at Williamstown, Canton, St. Patrick, and Monrovia, CA. She had lived in Springfield since 1971 and retired in 2001 after 30 years with the United States Postal Service. She was an avid genealogist for many years and was especially proud of her descent from Charlemagne. She had been a volunteer in the past, reading for the blind and working with the homeless. She was a multi-gallon blood donor and was devoted to the defense of the unborn.

Survivors include 4 daughters, Monika McLaughlin and husband Joe of Winthrop, ME, Phyllis Losorelli and husband Joe of Stevenson Ranch CA; Shannon Richards and companion Irving Dawson, and Mary Griffith and companion Mike Jenkins of Springfield IL; 3 sons Donald Richards, Jr. and wife Watana Atthachariyakul of Fair Oaks Ranch CA, Christopher Richards and wife Jody of Springfield IL, Anthony Richards and wife Dana of Riverton IL; and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held at Arnold’s Funeral Home in Canton, MO, from 5 until 8:30 PM on Friday evening with rosary at 8 PM.

A solemn Requiem Latin Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 AM Saturday, February 8, 2020 at Shrine of St Patrick Catholic Church, St. Patrick, MO with Father John P. Trough of Lacey’s Spring, AL officiating. Lillie will be buried at St Patrick Cemetery, St. Patrick, MO beside her father and mother.

Memorials should take the form of stipends made to Father Trough for Masses to be offered for the repose of her soul.

Pallbearers: Christopher Richards, Anthony Richards, Matthew Richards, Phillip Richards, Andrew Richards, Mike Claunch, Joe Losorelli and Larry Gibbons.

Honorary Pallbearers: Donald Richards, Jr., Joe McLaughlin, Anthony Skaleski, Ian Losoelli, Irving Dawson, Christian Lang, Dylan Iocca, Mike Jenkins, Curtis Robinson, Jr., Josh Denning, Andrew Lerch, Seth Hafliger and Alex Hafliger.

Obituary written by Lillie Riney.

Published by Herald-Whig on Feb. 4, 2020.