Lillie M. West

Lillie M. "Lil" West, 76, of Oswego, passed away at 9:50 p.m., Sunday, July 28, 2019, at Columbus Mercy Hospital.

On December 28, 1942 Lil was born to Lawrence and Maggie (Poor) Stapleton in Faulkner, Kansas.  Growing up in the Faulkner area, she attended school in the Faulkner area and graduated from Columbus High School.  As a young girl, she was interested in farming and by age 7 was helping her dad farm and driving a tractor.

She and Richard Riley were married on June 7, 1962.  Richard was in the army and the family moved to a number of cities around the country.  While in Fort Benning Lil was a school secretary.  In 1978 the family moved back to the Faulkner area.  The couple later divorced.

In 1981 Lil moved to Oswego.  At that time she worked at the Oswego cable office.  She and Gary West were married on January 7, 1983.  After retirement in 2003, the couple moved to Bull Shoals Lake.  While living there, she was very involved in her church, Cedar Creek Community Church.  She cooked many dinners and sewed for church groups.

The couple returned to Oswego in 2017.  Gary preceded her in death on February 17, 2017.

Lil was a very accomplished woman.  Her greatest pride was "her boys."  Besides being a loving mother, she was an accomplished seamstress, enjoyed gardening and fishing and founded the Pillsbury Doughboy Collector's Club.  One of her greatest and proudest accomplishments was rebuilding the engine for her 1970 GTO.  She also organized family reunions, published cookbooks and a family genealogy book.

Survivors Include:

Four Sons:       David Dixon (Mary Kay) of Irving, Texas

Lewis "Skip" Riley (Julee) of Oswego, Kansas

Michael Scott Riley of Oswego

Lawrence Todd Riley of Oswego

Six Grandchildren:      Josh (Amanda), Amanda (Taylor), Sarah, Shania (Cameron), Shawn, Jared, and Jeremy

Two Great-Grandchildren:     Isaiah and Chandler

One Brother:   Richard Stapleton of Chetopa, Kansas

Two Sisters:    Betty Lunday of Oswego, Kansas

Wilma Nash of Faulkner, Kansas

Several Nieces and Nephews who loved her very much

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Gary, on February 17, 2017; and one sister, Barbara Long.

The Funeral Service will be at 2:00 p.m., Thursday, August 1, 2019, at Bath-Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home of Chetopa. Burial will follow at Oswego Cemetery.  The family will receive friends from 1 – 2:00 p.m. prior to the service.

Memorials are suggested to St. Jude's Children's Hospital or the Shriner's Hospital for Children.  These may be left at or mailed to Bath-Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home, P.O. Box 346, Chetopa, KS  67336.