Leo Allen Riley of Casper, Wyoming died at home on August 22nd, passing away peacefully in his sleep at the age of 93.

Leo was born in 1932, the son of a sharecropper in St. Landry Parish, in the Cajun prairie of Louisiana -- an upbringing that imprinted him with a strong Catholic faith, a deep connection to family, and an abiding love of pork cracklins and crawfish gumbo. He spoke only Cajun French until kindergarten. Along with two brothers and three sisters, Leo picked cotton as a kid on the family farm, often missing the first weeks of school until the crop was in. One of his high school teachers thought him so pious that she suggested he join the priesthood, which thankfully for his family he decided against.

After graduating from Leonville High School, one of a class of 12, he joined the Air Force, where he was posted first to Hill Air Force Base, in Utah, then Thule Air Base in Greenland, part of a unit that monitored atomic bomb tests in Russia. His final posting, part of a small cryptography unit, was in Laramie, Wyoming. Whatever his skills as a staff sergeant, they paled in comparison to his pitching acumen in the inter-base softball league, so much so that his old commanders at Hill sometimes invented excuses for him to return for big games.

It was in Laramie that Leo first met Elizabeth (Mickie) O’Leary, who would become his wife and partner of 70 years. After his honorable discharge from the Air Force, Leo attended the University of Wyoming (1959), becoming a proud Wyoming resident and loyal Pokes fan, holding season football tickets through his 93rd year. After moving to Casper, Leo built a successful CPA practice, Leo Riley & Co, which employed 25 people at its peak. But Leo always viewed his most enduring accomplishment as his family. He believed in the power of education, ensuring that his children, then his grandchildren, went to college and beyond. One son, Michael, became a journalist in Washington DC; Richard was until recently a top engineer at Intel Corp. His daughter, Patty, is an outstanding Natrona County elementary school teacher. His oldest son, Craig, who was born with a severe developmental disability, lived happily in California until he passed away in 2022, and his care was one of Leo’s biggest priorities throughout his life.

Leo made sure to pass on the gift of opportunity to his eight grandchildren, helping them succeed in many varied ways. Richard’s daughter, Alyssa, is studying veterinary medicine, and his son, Sam, is working as a financial professional in San Francisco. One of Patty’s sons, Patrick, recently married and is starting a master’s degree in biology. Another, Riley, became a Marine, serving in Afghanistan, then an avid mountain climber, scaling the Tetons and the Swiss Alps. Rich, Patty’s oldest son, recently moved across the country and is thriving in Greenville, S.C., while her daughter Elizabeth is a budding environmental scientist. Willa and Kian, Michael’s kids and the youngest of the bunch, are beginning a new adventure in Ann Arbor, MI after spending their formative years in our nation’s capital.

Those who knew and loved Leo were constantly amazed by his generosity, warmth, and longevity, the last of which they attributed to a daily glass of bourbon and a passion for his work, which he left begrudgingly and only after building a business where his partners and employees continue to grow and flourish. One employee, Wendy Guile, who he hired and supported during a difficult period in her life, visited him almost every day in his final months. When Leo finally retired, at 90, his family threw him a party, celebrating his path from sharecropper’s son to successful small businessman, loving father and grandfather -- a man who truly achieved his dreams. After a serious fall last September, Leo remained bedridden but at home, from where he could gaze onto Garden Creek flowing among the towering cottonwoods in his beloved backyard. Of his original high school graduating class of 12, he is the last to pass on.

Leo is survived by his wife Elizabeth; his daughter, Patricia Arner, and son-in-law Rick; his son Michael and daughter-in-law Libby; his son Richard and daughter-in-law Karin; as well as his eight grandchildren. His sisters Betty Olivier and Cheryl Meche, whom he adored, also survive him. His parents, Stephen and Louise Riley, his siblings Joe, Lloyd, and Leola, along with his son Craig, preceded him in death.

A true Cajun by birth, Leo came to love Wyoming and its mountains, and a family cabin in the Big Horn Mountains was one of his most treasured places. He instilled that same love in his children and grandchildren, another of the many gifts he leaves to his family.

Father Clark Lenz will preside over a rosary for Leo at Bustard Funeral Home at 7 pm on Thursday, Aug. 27th. A funeral mass will be held at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church at 10:30 am on Friday, Aug. 28th. An Irish-style wake will be held for Leo on Friday evening beginning at 5:30 pm at the Tate Pumphouse, 1775 W First St, where friends and family will have a chance to share their memories.