Gertrude C. Riley was born in Pawtucket on this date in 1904 to the late Margaret E. Greenhalgh (1876-1962) and the late Patrick Leo Riley (1875-1955).

According to Patrick J. Riley, Gertie’s older brother, she was always a strong- willed personality with a quick mind and a determined path. Not only was “Gertie” the first of Margaret and Patrick Leo’s children to attend high school, but she was the first to graduate from college – the now, Rhode Island College.

After college, Gertie’s work life was devoted to Pawtucket’s school children. For 47 years she taught in the city’s elementary grades and rose to be the long time principal at East Avenue Elementary and was the first principal of the Frances Varieur School. Although “Miss Riley” never married, she had thousands of Pawtucket children whom she helped mold into adulthood. We all should be quite proud of our “Miss Riley”, for Gertie was something special.