More detail on this person: Riley, Paul R. Jr. LAWTON, Okla. Col. Paul R. Riley, Jr., 78, of Lawton died Sunday, July 28, 2013 in Lawton. Paul was born July 27, 1935 in Troy to Paul R. Riley Sr. and Mary Keenan Riley. He attended school in Troy and graduated from Catholic Central High School in 1952. He attended Siena College in Loudonville and graduated in June 1958 with a degree in economics. While at Siena, he was a member of ROTC and was the cadet brigade colonel and head of the Corps of Cadets his final semester. He received his commission as a second lieutenant in the US Army in Field Artillery in June 1958. He attended flight school at Fort Rucker, Ala. and became a Army aviator first in fixed wing aircraft and later as a helicopter pilot flying Huey and Cobra gunships. He served two tours in Vietnam. During his first tour in 1965, he was a member of the First Cavalry Division's Aerial Rocket Artillery and fought in the battle of the Ia Drang over Landing Zone X-ray. His awards included the Distinguished Flying Cross, Master Aviation Badge, Bronze star medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Commendation Medal, Air Medal, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Gold Star, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, Republic of Vietnam Service Medal with seven Stars and Meritorious Service Medal, and Presidential Unit Citation. Paul married Beverly M. Deso on September 1, 1956 in Troy and they had two children, Maureen and Kevin. Beverly and the children traveled all over the country with Paul until his retirement at Fort Sill in July 1978 after twenty years of service. Paul received his MBA from the University of Oklahoma in 1974. He also was a CPA. Following his military retirement, he went to work for Halliburton in Duncan, Okla. in 1978 as an accountant. At the time of his retirement from Halliburton in 1993, he was an accounting manager in the reports section. Paul was preceded in death by his wife, Beverly in 2012; his parents, Paul and Mary Riley and his in-laws, Ernest and Margaret Deso, all of Troy. He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Maureen and Kevin Curran of Lawton and his son, Kevin of Dallas, Texas. He is also survived by his brother and sister-in-law, Robert K and Eileen Riley of East Greenbush and nephew, Robert Riley and niece, Courtney Goyer.Funeral Mass for LTC (Retired) Paul R. Riley, Jr. will be at 11:30 a.m. Friday at Holy Family Catholic Church with Rev. Philip Seeton, pastor officiating. Burial with full military honors will be at Fort Sill National Cemetery, Elgin, Okla. under the direction of Becker-Rabon Funeral Home. The family will greet friends from 6 until 8 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of the donor's choice . An online guest book and sympathy cards are available atwww.beckerfuneral.com
This information was last updated 05/31/2013
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