William Leo Riley, Sr. (1912-1985) was born in Pawtucket. With the exception of his 3 1/2 years in the US Army during WWII, Bill lived his life residing within a mile of where he was born.

He married Helen Manning in September of 1952. The couple had three children, Patricia, William L. (Bill), Paul, and later three grandchildren.

I always called him Uncle Bill. Smart, knowledgeable on many subjects, and ready to engage in conversation. When you’d see him come into the house on Pond Street, or the home on Wilton Avenue, he’d gently doff his soft felt Fedora hat, nod his head, say hello to everyone, and chime in on the news of the day.

Uncle Bill, a second generation Irish-American, was a hard working family guy and a combat infantry soldier in France and Italy. Here is my favorite picture of him in his soldier kakis.

• Check out the April 28, 2014 blog entry to see a portion of a hand written letter Bill sent to my father from somewhere in France while conducting his combat missions.