Martha Jane Stephens Riley

Martha Jane Riley, 79, of Overland Park, KS died November 29, 2015. The daughter of the late Presley and Blanche Stevens, she was born on September 12, 1936, in Kansas City, MO, and died Sunday from complications of pneumonia while traveling in San Antonio, TX. Funeral services will be held at 12 PM, with visitation from 11-12 pm, on Saturday, December 5th, at Newcomer’s Floral Hills Funeral Home. Burial will follow in the Floral Hills Memorial Gardens. She is survived by her husband Fred C. Riley, a well-known Kansas City area homebuilder, her brothers Robert and Gerald Stephens, her children, Debbie Danner (Ron), Debbie Millikan (Bob), Christopher Riley (Kathy) and Curtis Riley (Anoushka), 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. A woman of deep faith in her Lord, Jesus Christ, extravagant generosity and hospitality, and a childlike love of throwing parties, she insisted that every age she reached was the best age. She encouraged in the face of adversity and fought fiercely for those she loved. She listened in a way that made conversation partners feel they were the most important person in the world. She recognized and encouraged the best in everyone she met. She liked all the lights kept on. After she survived a debilitating stroke in 2009 that restricted her speech and movement, her husband remade himself into her devoted caregiver, hairdresser, makeup artist, medic, interpreter and travel agent, and inspired many with the relentlessness of his love. He was at her side when she died, as he was always at her side. Arr. Newcomer’s Floral Hills Funeral Home, 7000 Blue Ridge Blvd., KCMO, (816) 353-1218.