Elizabeth Riley

Elizabeth Jane “Janie” Riley passed away peacefully at home on March 24, 2024. She was born on April 10, 1948, in Beaumont, Texas. When the doctors told us she was sick, we said, “You have no idea!” Turns out they weren’t joking.

Janie was a 1966 graduate of South Park High School and afterward became a trained cosmetologist. Ironically, she used to primp up folks needing the services of the local funeral home and was pretty good at her job, never having received any complaints from her clients. She carried those skills with her through life as you rarely, if ever, saw her without full hair and makeup, donning an outfit that would make even the classiest of ladies envious, and wearing a Mr. T starter kit amount of jewelry. She finds herself on the other end of that now, so we hope her cosmetologist is up to the challenge and can fill those gigantic shoes. Rodona, this is your time to shine.

After her stint of primping the recently deceased, she met and married a soldier boy named Tommy. They went on to have an April Fools’ Day baby, only to find out after their precious baby girl was born that a bouncing baby boy was arriving mere minutes later. As if that surprise wasn’t enough, Tommy Sr. tapped out of this life early thanks to heart disease. That vacant position was filled a few years later by Mike. Janie and Mike teamed up to raise their blended family in the once sleepy little town of Lumberton. Janie attended each and every event her kids participated in, which, if you know her daughter, didn’t add too much to Janie’s schedule. Janie’s kids grew up to have kids of their own and, never one to be outdone on the family front, she continued to be a fixture around ballparks, livestock shows, and football stadiums, but (thankfully) no jails or prisons.

One of Janie’s favorite pastimes was ambulance chasing. After her son became a law enforcement officer she invested in the latest craze that almost no other LEO’s mother had: a home scanner. She spent many a night waking her daughter and young grandchildren so they could roll up on Hardin County’s latest tragedy, only to be met by her son’s disapproving finger pointing her back in the direction of home.

She was rather spunky with a willingness to try new things. One time she was trying out a new firearm when the spent shell casing ejected and went right down the front of her shirt. She bared all in the literal heat of the moment. Some family members are still recovering from that show.

Later on in life, she became a fan of family game nights which first consisted of throwing bones in a fiercely competitive game of dominoes and later moved on to raucous hands of rummy. As one grandson pointed out, if you sat to her right, you could always manage to cheat because of that right eye: it was glass.

She was known to bust a move on the dance floor. She could jitterbug better than most and brought those moves to her niece’s wedding. Unfortunately, someone waxed the dance floor with what must have been olive oil because she flew to the floor like a fall risk patient, which promptly resulted in her nephew, God rest his soul, screaming, “Nobody move! We’ve got to look for Janie’s eye!” You know, in case that glass eye had popped out upon impact.

One thing she was NOT known for was her driving prowess. Picking up some pool chemicals one day resulted in a jelly-filled donut craving so intense that she managed to run off into a ditch and bust her radiator. Her pit crew arrived to rescue her and her Cadillac and they were met with flailing arms and a shriek of, “Can I still have my donut?!?” She wasn’t even worried about her blood sugar being higher than Willie Nelson.

She always wanted a candy apple red car, but after a particularly ferocious run on Walmart resulted in her getting pulled over by a State Trooper for driving while having her back hatch popped, she settled for whatever Mike brought home. The joke became that she wasn’t getting a red car, but she could have a red casket. The best compromise we could muster was to bury her in a red dress because nobody liked the look of a red casket right here before Easter.

She was preceded in death by her first husband, Tommy James Chase, Sr., her parents, M.B. and Delores Nelson, and her brother, Thomas M. Nelson. Survivors include her husband, James Michael Riley; daughter, Tammie Jane Tweedel and her husband, Danny; son, Tommy James Chase, Jr. and his wife, Jennilea; son, Michael Shea Riley and his wife, Brandy; grandchildren, Grant Tweedel, Abbigael Whitten (husband Zack), Ty Chase, Taylor Chase, Haiden Riley, Madalynn Riley, Savanna Ritchie, Karlee Ritchie, and Kaitlin Scarborough; great-grandchildren, Emilia Tweedel, Memphis Whitten, Jaxon Williams, Carson Williams, Lydia Ritchie, and Dawsyn Scarborough; brother, Ray Lynn Nelson and his wife, Kristy; sister, Brenda Lopez and her husband, Tommy; too many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and cousins to list because we would inevitably leave someone out and be taken off their Christmas card list; and her faithful four-legged companions, Shay and Bella.

A Gathering of Mrs. Riley’s family and friends will start at 9:00a.m. Saturday, March 30, 2024, at Forest Lawn Funeral Home, 4955 Pine Street, Beaumont. A Celebration of Life will follow in the chapel at 10:00a.m. Interment will be at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Beaumont, Texas in the Garden of Devotion.

Mrs. Riley’s family would like to ask that in lieu of flowers you continue her legacy of supporting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Not only will you feel better about yourself, you’ll also get a lifetime supply of notepads and return address labels.