Obituaries

Send Flowers Leonard Eugene Riley December 11, 1922 - June 16, 2015 Funeral services for Leonard Eugene Riley, age 92, of Denison, Texas will be held Saturday, June 20 at 11:00 AM at First United Methodist Church, 401 North Elm Street, Sherman, TX. Rev. Chris Dowd and Rev. Joe Ed Goolsby will officiate. Interment will follow in West Hill Cemetery immediately following the service. Mr. Riley died Tuesday, June 16, 2015 at Baylor Hospital in Dallas, Texas. Dannel Funeral Home, 302 S. Walnut Street, Sherman has charge of arrangements. Visitation will be Friday, June 19 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Serving as pallbearers will be: Jay Simpson, Steve Fredrickson, Brian Fredrickson, Neal Fredrickson, Brian Hopkins, Jim Grisham, Peter Plank, and Jeff Salard. Mr. Riley was born December 11, 1922 in Indiana to Clarence and Clara Jane Riley. He graduated from high school in Chalmers, Indiana and attended Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana. He volunteered for the United States Army at age 19 and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 506 Parachute Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. He parachuted into Normandy France at 1:15 a.m. D-Day morning, June 6, 1944. Additionally, he parachuted into Holland on September 17, 1944 for the Market-Garden Operation. He was at Bastogne, Belgium when the 101st Airborne was sent to the Battle of the Bulge. He was wounded at Bastogne and spent two months in hospitals where he was awarded the Purple Heart before returning to his unit. He was at Berchtesgaden (Hitler’s Eagle's Nest retreat) which the 101st had just captured when the war ended. He was in Headquarters Company, often attached to E (Easy) Company of “Band of Brothers” fame. Mr. Riley’s military awards include Purple Heart, The French Legion of Honor, Bronze Star, Parachute Wings with two stars, Combat Infantry Badge, European Theatre of Operations medal with 4 Campaign Stars, American Defense Medal, Occupation Medal (Germany), Good Conduct Medal, Presidential Unit Citation with Oak Leaf Cluster, Belgian Fourragere, Dutch Orange Lanyard, French Croix de Guerre with Palm, and a Belgian Croix de Guerre with Palm. Mr. Riley was the General Manager of DeRose Industries at the Bonham, Texas plant and later became Vice President of the Corporate DeRose Industries. After his retirement from DeRose he had a career as a residential building contractor. He served as a board member of the Bonham State Bank and was President of the Bonham Camp Fire Girls. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Sherman where he served on the Board of Trustees. Leonard Eugene Riley is predeceased by his parents; his wife of 48 years, Ruth Yvonne Riley; two brothers and two sisters. He is survived by his wife, Evelyn H. Hopkins-Riley of the home; daughter Cynthia Lee Fredrickson and husband Steve of Plymouth, Minnesota; son James Wesley Simpson and wife Jane of Lizella, Georgia; grandchildren, Brian Steven Fredrickson of Moorhead, Minnesota, Neal Roland Fredrickson of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and from Seattle, Washington Leigh Ann Simpson Topping and husband Jeremy, and Lauren Elizabeth Simpson; two great grandchildren Riley and Parker Simpson Topping. Upon his marriage to Evelyn in 2010, she brings her children: David Robert Hopkins, Elizabeth Ann Henderson, and Brian Preston Hopkins. Memorials may be made to the Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 612 Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 2732, Sherman, Texas 75091 or to First United Methodist Church of Sherman, 401 North Elm Street.