William Duane Riley, 77, of Lenox, Iowa, passed away on January 10, 2026, at his home surrounded by loved ones.
Bill was born on January 27, 1948, to Kenneth and Wilda (Webb) Riley in Centerville, Iowa. He was welcomed home by his older brother Dale. The family lived on a farm northwest of Corydon, Iowa, until he was one year old. In 1949, his parents bought the Lenox Livestock Auction and moved to Lenox. Bill attended Lenox Community School from K-12 and graduated in the Class of 1966. He then attended and graduated with an Agricultural Business degree from Iowa State University.
On March 1, 1969, Bill married Catherine Marie Schweers. Cathy grew up on a farm northwest of Lenox and graduated in the Class of 1968. They were high school sweethearts, and their first home was in Ames while Bill finished college. To this union, two sons Douglas James and Mark Andrew were born. They were married for over 56 years.
After graduation, Bill worked at the Lenox Livestock Auction until he accepted a position with USDA Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) as an Emergency Loan Supervisor in 1972. After his training, he served as a FmHA County Supervisor and Training Officer. During his 26 years of federal service, Bill managed offices in Guthrie, Audubon, Carroll, Crawford, Adams, Poweshiek, and Tama Counties. He was the first County Supervisor in the nation to receive the designation of Approved Loan Officer. During this time, he was also a Certified Appraiser and worked during different emergency designations in over 1/3 of the counties in Iowa. During the Farm Crisis of the mid-1980s, Bill returned to Lenox to serve as the Vice-President and head of the loan department for the Lenox Bank from 1984-1987.
Bill and Cathy loved to travel. In 1996, Bill was ready for a new adventure and answered an ad in the Des Moines Sunday Register for a 3-year international assignment to work on a USAID contract in Ukraine. This position allowed him to use his experience to partner American and Western European companies with the farming community of Ukraine from 1997-1999. After returning to the states in 1999, Bill took additional USAID short-term assignments to work in Ukraine, Zambia, Kenya and Afghanistan prior to returning to America and FmHA. In 2008, the couple moved back to Lenox to finish his career at Iowa State Savings Bank in Corning and to live his final 16 years of life in the same house he grew up in. When Mark asked Bill, “What is left on your bucket list?”, Bill replied “I’ve done it all. I have no regrets”.
Special projects that Bill worked on were Adams County CRP Research & Demonstration Project, Taylor County Fair Board, Taylor County 4-H Foundation, Adams County French Icarian Foundation, Lenox Tourism Committee, Lenox Community Center Committee, Lenox Development Corp, and several Rotary and Lions Clubs.
Bill’s pride and joy were his two sons and their families. Bill introduced them to model rockets at a very young age and later his avid interest that he shared with his brother Dale in all types of guns from black powder to pistols, rifles, and shotguns. Bill enjoyed reloading pistol shells and after retirement took up the hobby of woodworking where he made many unique and beautiful items. He also enjoyed their 1967 Mustang that he helped the boys restore in 1991.
Bill is preceded in death by his parents, his parents-in-law Art and Mabel Schweers, his brother Dale, sister-in-law Mary, his brothers-in-law Herman Schweers and Neil Parmenter, great niece Shelby Hughes, and great nephew James Connolly.
Left to remember Bill is his wife Cathy, son Doug, Denise, Dane and Dillon Riley and son Mark, Kelli, Brody and Samantha Riley, Cathy’s sisters Teresa Parmenter, Rita (Jim) Hughes, Anne (Tom) Pogge, Cecelia (Steve) Tonn, and Agnes (Ben) Casey and Cathy’s brothers Dave (Monna) Schweers, Tom (Joleen) Schweers, Ed Schweers, and Frank Schweers as well as our very special sister-in-law Marcia (Paul) Maynes. Plus, many, many nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, classmates and friends.
Visitation will be held from 4-7 PM, with family from 5-7 PM, at the Cummings Family Funeral Home in Lenox on Friday, January 16th, 2026, a Celebration of Life will be held from 11 AM– 2 PM at the Lenox Community Center on Saturday, January 17, 2026, with lunch included, and burial will follow at North Fairview Cemetery in Lenox. In lieu of flowers memorials may be directed towards the family to be established in Bill's memory.
