Dennis Riley, delivering meals to patients confined to their beds.
Photograph by Trudeau Sanatorium patient Ken Ho, late 1940s.
Historic Saranac Lake Collection, 2022.12.1.29.3.
Gift of the Family of Ken HoBorn: July 27, 1899
Died: March 6, 1991
Married: Elizabeth Keegan Riley
Children: Howard Riley, Marguerite, twins Rita and Ray, Charles and Teresa.
Dennis Edward Riley was the father of six, including Howard Riley. In many of Howard's stories--in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, in the books of his columns--he writes about his father, and he speaks of him on his own page and on Howard Riley Interview.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, March 7, 1991
Dennis E. Riley
SARANAC LAKE — Dennis E. Riley, 91, died Wednesday afternoon, March 6, 1991 at the Uihlein Mercy Center in Lake Placid. He lived in Saranac Lake since 1939, residing at 6 Stevenson Lane.
He was born July 27, 1899, in Malone, the son of Patrick and Elizabeth (Clark) Riley. He married Elizabeth Keegan on Sept. 17, 1923 in the Church of the Assumption, in Gabriels. They were married by Mr. Riley's cousin, Father Frank Cornish, and were the first couple married at the church. Mrs. Riley died Oct. 11, 1984.
He had been employed in the maintenance department of the Trudeau Sanatorium from 1942 to 1955 and then was employed in the maintenance department of the Ray Brook State Hospital until his retirement.
Survivors include three sons, Raymond and Charles of Saranac Lake and Howard of Lake Placid; three daughters, Mrs. John (Rita) Littlefield of Tupper Lake, Mrs. Marguerite Ellithorpe of Saranac Lake, and Mrs. Fred (Theresa) Gates of Binghamton; 20 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.
Calling hours will be at the Keough and Son Funeral Home from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday. A Bible vigil will be held Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the funeral home.
There will be a Mass of Christian burial at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Bernard's Church. Burial will be in St. Bernard's Cemetery in May.
Memorial donations may be made to the Uihlien Mercy Center in care of the Keough and Son Funeral Home.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, March 14, 1991
Dennis Edward Riley
(July 27,1899 - March 6, 1991)
He did not have an easy life, his mother died when he was only 8 and he was sent to a boarding school run by the Christian Brothers near Hyde Park.
When he returned here he lived with his Uncle Ed Riley, a Civil War veteran, who had built a house on Jenkins Street. He went to school some in Saranac Lake but he always said that he was more of a drop-in than a drop-out.
His father, Patrick [Patrick Riley], had come down from Malone to work for Branch & Callanan on the construction of Ray Brook Hospital and he took to riding on the wagon each morning when his father delivered the men and supplies for the day. Construction on the Administration Building and East & West wings started in 1902 and was completed; in 1904. What Dad remembers was probably work on the Employees Building which was started in 1911.
When he was older he went to work at the Sisters Farm in Gabriels. It's that big place you can see across the fields to the left just before you get to Leavitt's Farms. He later managed that farm and all his offspring were born in the small house that still stands next to the larger house that was a convent. The farm owned by the Sisters of Mercy supplied food to the Sanatorium they had built in Gabriels.
He met and married Elizabeth: (Bessie) Keegan who, with her Dad, William Keegan, had moved into a new house he had built on the crossroads in Gabriels which also still stands. Later he leased the Split Rock farm about a mile down the road. But soon after he filled the sheds with new machinery, lightening struck the big L-shaped barns and they burned to the ground. Everything was lost.
We thought there ought to be some kind of record for your 20 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren, most of whom are still babies, and for those still to come. They ought to know that you ran into that burning barn and cut loose and saved the 4 horses that were tied in their stalls. And they ought to know that after that loss, you managed to buy another farm during the great depression. They ought to know that after you gave up farming and worked at Trudeau Sanatorium that you were beloved by all the patients especially because you always went out of your way to help them. They ought to know that you always kept a big bountiful vegetable garden and grew lots of flowers. Through all of that they ought to know how well you took care of your family and how much we loved you and Mom.
Your children . . .
Rita, Marguerite, Theresa, Raymond, Charles, Howard
