Today marks 12 weeks, three months, since my beloved sister, Bernardine Riley, left this world. It's still hard to believe she's not with us. But, we are finally going to celebrate her life with the same kind of joy she brought to her family and friends. Music, song, and dance will be the program for Berni's Celebration of Life on Sunday, August 23, at Gladstone Theatre in the Park Shelter House at 5:00 PM, Gladstone, Missouri. We invite all in the area who knew and loved her to come help us celebrate by sharing memories and stories. She'll love it! Remember to bring lawn chairs. Light refreshments will be served.
Gladstone, Missouri – RILEY, Bernardine (Berni) 73, passed away Saturday, May 16, 2020, at her home in Gladstone after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in April.
Berni Riley was born and raised in South Weymouth, Massachusetts. Born to Roy Wilson Riley and Jane (Tirrell) Riley on May 12, 1947, she was the youngest of four girls. She had a happy, carefree childhood where she was raised with love, music, and acceptance without prejudice.
After graduation from Weymouth High School in 1965, Berni trained at an airline school in Connecticut for a position in reservations where she could apply for any airline after graduation. Trans World Airlines was the only airline to which she applied and was hired. She knew at 17 years old that she wanted to travel internationally and was determined that TWA was how she was going to do it. She also knew at 17 during the turbulent 60s that race inequality was wrong. To show her anguish in her quiet way, she wrote three poems that were published in a monthly newsletter at Boston’s Unitarian Universalist Headquarters. She was an advocate for civil and equal rights all her life.
Berni worked in the reservations office of TWA in New York City for two years before she was transferred to Boston where she worked in the Telemail and Automation Services Department. Since most of her large family lived in the suburbs on the South Shore, she was very happy to go back “home.”
Besides spending time with family and traveling (and going to the beach!), Berni’s passion was music, dancing, and live theater. Her happiest family gatherings were sing-a-longs around the piano with her mother playing. She performed in many musical theater productions in her younger years at Hingham Civic Music Theater in Hingham, Massachusetts, and then again in her later years at Gladstone Theater in the Park. She was still tap dancing until a few months before her death. Berni loved NYC and Broadway and would take every opportunity she could to go see a show. She traveled all over the world and her travel benefits provided access to travel for her parents. She was privileged to enjoy many wonderful trips with them.
Berni was transferred to Kansas City, Missouri in 1980 when TWA closed their Boston office. She continued working in Telemail and Automation Services and in 1988 was honored with the Award of Excellence as Telemail’s in-house resident expert in TWA sales and promotional programs. She loved working for TWA in New York City, Boston, and Kansas City.
When American Airlines acquired TWA in 2001, she was transferred to Dallas, Texas for two years as a supervisor in the Customer Relations Department. Since her 84 year-old mother had come to live with her in 1997, Berni would fly back to Kansas City on weekends to spend time with her. This was a difficult time in her life but she persevered as always.
When American offered her a retirement package in 2003, she took the package and returned to Kansas City. Not yet eligible to collect Social Security, she was fortunate enough to be hired as the Box Office Manager at Quality Hill Playhouse in Kansas City from where she retired in the fall of 2019. She loved her job at the Playhouse where she met many artists and friends, including the indomitable Marilyn Maye. They became lifelong friends.
Although most of Berni’s relatives were back east, through her contacts with TWA, Quality Hill Playhouse, Ibsen Dance Theatre, Jazzercise, and Gladstone Theatre in the Park, she quickly acquired a Kansas City family who was as close to her as her own. She knew how to nurture friendships that lasted a lifetime.
Berni was preceded in death by her father, Roy Wilson Riley; her mother, Jane (Tirrell) Riley; her sister, Judith E. (Riley) Jacobson; and her nephew, Edward Scott Jacobson.
Berni is survived by her oldest sister, Jacqueline Weir (Riley) Hadley (Kenneth) of Carver, Massachusetts; sister Vicki-Jane (Riley) Bliss (Peter) of Longmont, Colorado; ten nieces and nephews; fifteen great nieces and nephews; and seventeen great-great nieces and nephews. She cherished her family and made every effort to fly back east as often as she could to spend time with them.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, a Celebration of Life has been postponed. When it is safe to do so, one will be held in Kansas City and then in her home state of Massachusetts. Dates for these events will be published as soon as they become known.
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