Former Alumni Director Louise Riley Passes Away at Age 77

Louise (Blouch) Riley ’63/G’98, former alumni director at Cairn University, passed away on January 9, 2019 at 77 years old.
Louise was born on December 3, 1941 to a Mennonite family in Lebanon, PA. Coming to Christ in her adolescence, Louise continued to grow in her love and knowledge of the Lord throughout her life. She studied at Word of Life and Cairn University, graduating from Cairn in 1963 with an undergraduate degree and then again in 1998 with a graduate degree. She married her husband, Jack Riley ’97/G’99, on July 13, 1970, and together they had two children, Michael Riley ’97/G’00 and Cristina (Riley) Dunn ’97. Their family served the Lord on the mission field for four years in Argentina and for 12 years in Spain, a place she forever referred to as “home.”
Louise served as the alumni director at Cairn University from 1995 to 2004 when she retired. Serving during the time of transition between college and University status, Louise played a key role in uniting alumni to support the direction of the University. Louise was known for giving alumni the “VIP treatment” whenever they came back to visit the campus. She would often pop into former Cairn president Dr. Sherrill Babb’s office to reunite the former University president with visiting alumni.
“Louise Riley was an outstanding director of alumni during my time at Cairn University,” said Dr. Babb, president emeritus at Cairn University. “She always brought joy and enthusiasm to every alumni event or gathering. All of us who knew Louise will never forget how she blessed us.”