Margaret Riley

Margaret Riley, 73, died comfortably at 6:55pm Thursday, December 26th at Hock Family Pavilion in Durham, North Carolina. During her final days she was filled with gratitude and joy for a life well-lived, singing songs, dreaming about the stars, and fondly reminiscing on memories of the people and places she loved.

Born October 29, 1951, at Tripler General Hospital in Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Hawaii, four minutes before her twin brother, Mark. Throughout their early years, it was often commented that Margaret was four minutes older and four inches taller than Mark. He finally caught up to her in his twenties. Their mother would refer to them as her M&Ms that didn’t melt in her hands.

As an adult, when asked where she was from, she would say “Around!” That was because she was blessed to have lived many places throughout her years. At the age of two, the Riley family moved from Hawaii to Washington, DC. for a couple of years. From there, they moved to Bay City, Michigan for three years, then back to Washington for four. When Margaret’s dad retired from the Navy, they moved from DC back to his hometown of Des Moines, Iowa. Margaret was in eighth grade. Upon completing high school at St. Joseph Academy and an undergraduate degree at the University of Northern Iowa, Margaret volunteered in the Peace Corps in Colombia, South America for two years. She worked in Des Moines for two years upon her return back to the States before being hired by the Department of Labor in Omaha, Nebraska. She lived there for eight years before returning to graduate school in Athens, Ohio. During five years in Athens she completed a Master’s in International Affairs and a Ph.D in Intercultural Communication. This set her on her final professional path in international education.

She was hired as the first Director of Undergraduate International Programs at St. Norbert College in DePere, Wisconsin, where she worked from 1991-1996. From there she headed to Western Michigan University as the Director of Study Abroad for three and a half years. In 2000 she moved from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Durham, NC to be the Director of the Office of Study Abroad and Assistant Dean of Trinity College of Arts and Sciences. Her final titles upon retirement from Duke August 1, 2013 were Director of the Global Education Office for Undergraduates, Associate Dean of Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, and Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Global Education. She used to joke that that was a lot to put on a business card!

While all of Margaret’s life experiences contributed to her evolution as a global citizen, two of the most impactful experiences were her school trip to Europe between her junior and senior year of school and her time as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Both of these experiences exposed her to other parts of the world, and other ways of life. Her pursuit of a PhD in Intercultural Communication is evidence of just how much those expositions meant to her.

Aside from her professional career, Margaret was one of the founding members of the National Peace Corps Association, serving as its secretary from 1980-83 and president from 1983-86. She was active in returned Peace Corps Volunteer groups in each city she lived. She proudly said she was committed to making the acronym RPCV as well-known as VFW, feeling that citizens who had promoted peace around the world should also be recognized as were those who had fought in wars.

Margaret is survived by her siblings: Kathleen Ann Riley (Des Moines, Iowa); Mary Elizabeth Anderson (Omaha, Nebraska); Mark Riley (Clive, Iowa); and Meaghan Riley of Des Moines, Iowa; their spouses and numerous nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and nephews as well as step-nieces and step-grand-nieces and nephews. She was also blessed to have built a community of friends who were like family to her.

Celebrations of Margaret’s life will be held in both Durham, North Carolina and Des Moines, Iowa. Details are as follows:

UPDATE - CHANGE OF DATE **Weather and illness has led to the postponement of Ma's Celebration of Life in Durham this Saturday. It has been rescheduled to January 25th, 2025 at 10am, Croasdaile Village Retirement Community's Auditorium, 2600 Croasdaile Farm Parkway, Durham, North Carolina.**

The Des Moines gathering will still take place as planned on Tuesday, January 14th, 2025 @ 2:30pm, Scottish Rite Park - Penthouse, 2909 Woodland Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa.

There will be no zoom, but we are arranging for recordings to share.

Margaret has asked that there be no grave. “You will all facilitate my becoming, in death, the global citizen I proclaimed to be in life. Please carry my joy and gratitude for life to the furthest corners of the globe and share them so that I will be of the world forever. Thank you for doing this final act of friendship for me!”

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in her name to the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience https://museumofthepeacecorpsexperience.org or the Peace Corps Foundation’s Peace Park https://www.peacecorpscommemorative.org You'll join Margaret as a donor and help fully realize monuments to build peace and memorialize Peace Corps history.