Hallie Hall Riker

March18, 1929 ~ August 17, 2010

Hallie was a scrappy farm girl from Corsicana when she set out to study piano at UT Austin. She could read classical music and play like her hair was on fire but she met a knucklehead history major who was fresh from the war and the Navy. She dated him awhile and then she married him and followed him Out West where he was in a post-graduate program at UC Berkeley. Then it was back to Texas to raise a family. So much for Carnegie Hall.

Later on around our neighborhood in Austin growing up she was the Mrs. Cleaver on the block (no pun intended) but she kept close to the chatter since there were her two boys to chase and their furry friends to chase off, plus a house to clean, vestments to iron, meals to fix and dishes and laundry and PTA and choir practice, scouts, ball games, taxi service, the telephone ringing off the wall, the ace batter with a hair brush handicap during the punishment phase and pastor's wife extra ordinaire for 54 years; a woman of many hats and it kept her pretty busy. Mom was the best mother we ever had. We credit her for a lot of lessons learned growing up.

Sadly, dementia slowly robbed her of everything over the last few years. She was preceded in death by our dad, the Rev. Malcolm Riker in 2002. They were married for 54 years.

We love you mom.

Hallie is survived by her sons Marcus and Christopher and their wives, Holly and Colleen, her grandchildren, Jennifer and Ian and about a bazillion nieces and nephews. We thank all of our family, friends, the staff of Seton Hospital, the three Summit facilities we came to know, especially the crew at Lakeway during the last few days and Heart to Heart Hospice of Austin for their care and support.

Please make any donations to the charity of your choice or to Dementia and Alzheimer's research.

Hallie will lie in state on Sunday, August 22, 2010, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. A brief memorial will be held at All Saints Episcopal Church in Austin on Monday, August 23, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. followed by interment at Austin Memorial Park Cemetery.