Obituary of Jeanette Jennings Riley

Jeanette Jennings Riley, 86, passed away in her West Columbia home on May 11, 2023. She was born to Lois Gulledge Jennings and Henry Jennings in Rock Hill, SC on May 15, 1936.

Jeanette was raised in Rock Hill, SC. She was baptized at Northside Baptist Church in Rock Hill at the age of twelve. She was a member of the GA’s and an adult choir member. Jeanette was a graduate of Rock Hill High School and worked at the SC Department of Adult Education in Columbia, SC for over 20 years where she retired.

Jeanette (lovingly known as Jen or Momma Jen) was a beautiful person inside and out. She had a green thumb and loved to grow plants and keep her yard a certain way. She loved music and played the piano by ear. She was an extremely kind, patient, generous, and loving person to everyone she met. Her lifeblood was to be around children. She was the favorite “Mom” in every neighborhood she lived in. She was tireless in making sure her swimming pool was ready for the kids to enjoy and all the snacks they wanted were well stocked and delivered to them. She could never get enough of the little ones, and they loved her too! Her family remembers her most with a baby in her arms or a child on her lap reading books.

Jeanette is pre-deceased by her parents, Lois and Henry Jennings; husbands, Jack R. Carigan and John F. Riley; sister, Brenda Jennings Gibson; and brother-in-law Thomas Wright. She is survived by her sisters, Nadine Jennings George and Mildred Jennings Wright; as well as her children, Fran Goodson Parker, Kelly Goodson Hallman (Walter Hallman Sr.), Charles Goodson Jr. (Allison Hammond Goodson); her grandchildren, Jennifer Link Schwabe (Wolfram Schwabe), Ashley Parker Rosser (Isaac Rosser), Walter Hallman Jr., Amber June Goodson, Alyssa Jean Goodson; and her great grandchildren Silas Rosser, Forrest Rosser, Clara Schwabe, Erika Schwabe, and Will Schwabe.

A funeral service to celebrate this life so well lived is planned for Tuesday, May 16 at Woodridge Mausoleum Chapel on Corley Mill Road in Lexington, SC. Visitation is at 10:30AM, Service at 11:00AM followed by burial in Woodridge Memorial Park. The family request memorials be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.