Joan Eileen (Mattson) Riley

Joan Eileen Riley age 74 died Friday, August 12, 2022 at Sanford Medical Center, Bemidji.

Memorial services will be 2:00 p.m., Friday, August 19th, 2022 at Olson-Schwartz Funeral Home, Bemidji. Family will greet friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.

Joan was born in Mahnomen MN on September 8, 1947 to Ernest and Hazel (Lesetmoe) Mattson. In Joan’s youth her mother married Harold “Jack” Geller.

On January 18th,1964 she married Richard Leroy Riley. She and Richard had four children, Jody, Theresa, Rick (Jodi) and Lisa (Jon).

Joan had five brothers Hal (Marilyn), Chuck, Bob, Gregg (JoEllen), and Mike (Barb) along with many nieces and nephews.

She had six Grandchildren – Ashley, Erica, Amanda, Zac, Donovan, and Rachael. Along with numerous great grandchildren. She dearly loved all her grandchildren, great grandchildren as well as her 26 foster children.

Her years of employment included working at Bell Telephone as a switchboard operator, Northern School in the Nurses office, Beltrami County Courthouse switchboard, was the first female pipe-liner in Bemidji and also the oldest female employee at Potlatch when she retired after a long career.

She enjoyed the outdoors, being near the water at her lot, planting gardens, caring for her flowers and fruit trees in Texas.

She also was very well known for her exceptional cooking skills and enjoyed the opportunity to cook for her family and friends.

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