Rachel Marie Riley

Rachel Marie Riley was born a Colorado native on June 22nd, 1982, at Vail Valley Medical Center in the vast Rocky Mountains. She came into this world with a head of hair so impressive, the doctor left her mother during the height of labor to grab a flashlight so everyone could see. Her dark curls eventually transformed into long, luxurious blonde hair that people would often stop her to compliment. Her sweet personality as a baby evolved into a larger-than-life presence that couldn’t be missed when she walked into a room. Rachel’s laugh bellowed so loudly, it contagiously affected everyone around her; her laugh is undoubtedly one of the things people remember most.

Growing up in Colorado Springs the oldest of three daughters, Rachel participated in sports, enjoyed playing the clarinet, and met several of her life-long friends through church and school. She was unapologetically herself and attracted people who loved her unfiltered approach to life. Throughout Jr. High and High School, she could be found over-spraying her trendy bangs, listening to country or rock music and donning her dad’s old work jacket with “Bill” embroidered on the right chest.

In 2007, Rachel enrolled into the Criminal Justice program at Pikes Peak Community college. Her curriculum required her to actively engage with law enforcement which presented the opportunity for her to accept a ride along with the strapping Colorado Springs Police Department Officer Mark Andrew Riley in October of 2008. She quickly recognized his face from a dating app she had been using at the time and much to her chagrin, realized he had sent her a message that she ignored a couple of months earlier. Thankfully, God brought them together that night and they quickly fell deeply in love with one another. They became engaged a few months later in February of 2009, then married shortly after on March 21st. From the very beginning, Rachel knew Mark was her soulmate. She proudly graduated with her Associate’s degree in 2009.

In their 13 years together, Rachel and Mark adventured together in the joys and heartaches that inevitably come along with life, marriage and parenthood. She took Mark’s two children under her wing as her own and loved her husband and each of her five children fiercely. Rachel was adamant in her earlier years that “children were not her thing” but as it turned out, mothering her children would be one of the things she loved the most. She involved herself in MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) at New Life Church, creating a solid community of women who were walking through motherhood together and creating friendships that would hold true to the end.

Mark and Rachel’s marriage verse is Jeremiah 29:11: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Mark was the perfect balance to Rachel’s vivacious, bold and eclectic personality. From the day of her first cancer diagnosis in June 2018 until she passed into heaven the morning of May 23rd , 2021, he faithfully loved and served her and their family. Rachel, 38, is survived by her husband Mark; her sons Chase, 17, Jonathan, 14, Gunner, 9, Gage, 8, and her daughter Gia, 4; her parents William and Patricia Zynen; and her sisters, Stacey Zynen and Kerri Zynen. She is also survived by loving in-laws, aunts and uncles, several cousins, nieces and a nephew.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Friday, June 4th, at 11am, at

New Life Church, 11025 Voyager Parkway, Colorado Springs 80921.

Condolences may be sent to 5415 Arroyo St, Colorado Springs, CO, 80922. Donations to the family can be made to the Riley Family GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/remruc-the-riley-family?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_cp%20share-sheet&fbclid=IwAR0xFcwjkzItnwBT-9SPzLJIZO84QDCQfHHcI8FmQkLcK_TbTV0502_g-Ks