Margaret C Riley

On January 20, 2020, Margret Cansler Riley left this earth to join her beloved James in their heavenly home. The daughter of James Willis and Mary Cansler, she was born on July 30, 1922, and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. Margaret attended Southwestern University (now Rhodes College) in Memphis where she pledged the Kappa Delta Sorority. She met the love of her life, James Riley, when he came to pastor Eudora Baptist Church where she was a member. They married August 20, 1942 and moved in 1944 to Texas - first to Caddo Mills, then Wills Point and Paris and, in 1956 they settled in Houston when James became pastor of Second Baptist Church and later a professor at Houston Baptist University.

Margaret was active in church activities throughout her life and was always an active participant in the school activities of her children; she volunteered at Memorial Hospital for twenty years. She loved gardening and flowers, spending many happy hours on her patio and atrium. Margaret loved learning and was a voracious reader, enjoying biographies, historical works and travel books most of all, and was well-known throughout Houston for her excellent book reviews. Margaret was a privileged member and a past-President of The Ladies’ Reading Club of Houston (Chartered in 1902), a past-President and member of The American Museum Society of Houston Baptist University, a member of The Guild of HBU, a member of the Houston Chapter of Kappa Delta Alumnae and a former active member of the Chautauqua Study Club as well as a former Docent and Keepsake at the Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens.

Margaret was an avid traveller who loved to experience new cultures and meet new people. She worked as a travel agent, assembling and leading groups throughout Europe and the British Isles as well as to Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Jordan, Brazil, India, Hong Kong, Mainland China, India, Thailand, Panama, Hawaii, and Canada. Margaret also took James and a variety of friends on cruises through the Caribbean, to Alaska, up the Mississippi River and down the Snake River. She even spent two semesters studying Mandarin at Rice University!

While Margaret touched the lives of many, her most significant legacy is to be found in the hearts and lives of those she knew and loved and those who knew and loved her the most – her family: James, her husband of 69+ years; her children – James S. Riley Jr. and wife Merrily of Houston, Jay Riley and wife Anne of Emerald Bay, Jeanne Riley Blackmon and husband Bill of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, Jan Riley John and husband Peter of Austin; her grandchildren – Carey Riley Hair and husband Rusty, James S. Riley III, Catherine Riley Buckles and husband Nathan, Melissa Riley, Jason Riley, Braden Blackmon, Bowman Blackmon, Nathan John and wife Rachel Yanda, Brian John and partner Hannah Corder and Andrew John; and her great-grandchildren Thomas, Amanda Margaret and Elaina Hair; Nadia, Eli and Gage Buckles; William and Xavier Blackmon; and Isadora Yanda-John.

Margaret was predeceased by her beloved husband James (November 21, 2011), her parents, her sister May Walker and her brother James Willis Cansler, Jr.

A Memorial Service will be held at 11:00 a.m on Tuesday, January 28, in the Chapel at Forest Park Westheimer, 12800 Westheimer Road led by Dr. Jay Riley and Dr. Bill Blackmon. Serving as honorary pallbearers are her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Friends are invited to join the family at the Memorial Service and also at a Celebration of Life Reception to be held from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 28, at University Place Retirement Center at 7480 Beechnut St., Houston.

In lieu of customary remembrances, contributions in Margaret’s memory may be directed to South Main Baptist Church, 4100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002 or to Children at Heart Ministries – Gracewood, 1617 Elmview, Houston, TX 77080.