Home > United States of America > Kansas > Brown County > Hiawatha > Mount Hope Cemetery > Rosalys McCrerey Rieger

Rosalys McCrerey Rieger

Birth	:	12 Apr 1920
Death	:	10 Nov 2007
Burial	:	Mount Hope Cemetery, Hiawatha, Brown County, USA
Coordinate	:	39.8497009, -95.5156021
Description	:	wife of Leslie Ivan Rieger Manhattan Mercury, The (KS) - Wednesday, November 14, 2007 Rosalys McCrerey Rieger, 87, of Manhattan, died Saturday, Nov. 10, at the Stoneybrook Retirement Community. She was born at Falls City, Neb., on April 12, 1920, the only child of Maude Lillian Bateman and Alexander McCrerey. The family provided some of the following information: Her early childhood was spent on the family farm 6 1/2 miles southwest of Hiawatha. Her father, a self-taught pianist and clarinetist, was her first piano teacher before age 4, and set her on a course of playing and teaching throughout her life. She was also an... Read More	wife of Leslie Ivan Rieger Manhattan Mercury, The (KS) - Wednesday, November 14, 2007 Rosalys McCrerey Rieger, 87, of Manhattan, died Saturday, Nov. 10, at the Stoneybrook Retirement Community. She was born at Falls City, Neb., on April 12, 1920, the only child of Maude Lillian Bateman and Alexander McCrerey. The family provided some of the following information: Her early childhood was spent on the family farm 6 1/2 miles southwest of Hiawatha. Her father, a self-taught pianist and clarinetist, was her first piano teacher before age 4, and set her on a course of playing and teaching throughout her life. She was also an organist at churches in Hiawatha and Manhattan, and played for numerous weddings and funerals. Her family moved to Philadelphia during three of her elementary years at Edmonds School, then back to the farm where she finished eighth grade at Grand Prairie Elementary School (a one-room school). She was a graduate of Powhattan High School where she later taught music. She attended the University of Kansas at Lawrence and was a member and assistant accompanist of the Women's Glee Club. She was an accompanist for various vocal students throughout her college years. She was in the class of 1941 and was elected to music honor societies - Mu Phi Epsilon and Pi Kappa Lambda. Her piano professor, Howard Taylor, presented her in her senior recital in February 1941. Strangely, no program exists. However, it included two Bach transcriptions, a Bortkiewicz sonata, a Gershwin Prelude No. 2, Spharenmusik by Dohnyani and the Schumann 'A' Minor Concerto, with Taylor at the second piano. She eloped with Leslie Ivan Rieger in 1940, and later, lived in Kansas City, Mo., where she headed the Records Department of Lake City Ordnance Plant, a subsidiary of Dupont de Nemeurs. Because she followed her husband's naval assignments, her Bachelor of Music degree in piano from the University of Kansas was actually in 1946, but she was a member of the class of 1941. She graduated with senior honors. The intervening years were spent with Leslie, who had duty stations in Boston, Corpus Christi and New Orleans. She was a volunteer Red Cross nurse's aid in both Corpus and New Orleans. Their son Christopher Philip was born on Oct. 14, 1948, in Sabetha (Hiawatha had no hospital at that time). After the war she was a Brown County Social Worker and piano teacher in Hiawatha. In 1961, she and son Christopher joined Leslie in the city of Manhattan, where he was the director of finance, treasurer and later city manager. Rosalys taught piano in Hiawatha from 1941 to 1960. At one time, she had as many as 65 students - starting at 6:50 a.m. and teaching until 6 p.m. and on Saturdays. She received her master of arts degree in political science in 1977 from Kansas State University, and attended the Washburn School of Law where she was a member of the Moot Court Team. In January 1987 she and her husband began several years of travel to Portugal, Spain, Yugoslavia (Croatia) and Great Britain. Rosalys was the first woman to be elected to the Riley County Commission where she served two 4-year terms. She was on the Riley County Community Corrections Board from 1987 to 2000. As commissioner, she served on the Riley County Law Enforcement Board, Health Board, Downtown Redevelopment Board (DRAB), Manhattan Mainstreet Board, Big Lakes Regional Council, and was a member of the Kansas Music Teachers Association board. As a county commissioner, she was proudest of establishing Community Corrections in 1982 in Riley County - an alternative to prison for non-violent offenders who were able to keep their jobs in the community and pay restitution. She was active in many organizations and her presidencies included: the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Manhattan/Riley County; Kansans for ERA; the Manhattan Area Piano Teachers League, which she organized. She also served on the state board of Kansas Music Teachers Association. She co-authored with Mary Jo Kurtz the "Musicians' Handbook" for piano students, which was utilized by local piano teachers. She was president of the Flint Hills Chapter of the United Nations Association-USA (UNA-USA) which she helped establish. She was a member of the UNA-USA national Executive Committee in the early 1990s. Her primary project was to encourage schools and institutions to display the UN flag. This was a continuation of her project as a member of the Manhattan/Riley County League of Women Voters during the '60s. It was also a personal protest against the war in Vietnam where their son was sent as a Navy Corpsman attached to the Marines. She was president of the Kansas Council on Crime and Delinquency and editor of its newsletter for several years. She was a member of the Political Science Advisory Council, served on the Advisory Board of UFM (University for Man), its Board of Directors, and the Lou Douglas Lecture Committee. She also served on the City/County/University board. Other organizational memberships include: World Federalists Association, National Organization for Women, American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, Nature Conservancy, Greenpeace, Common Cause, Population Institute, Planned Parenthood, World Wildlife Fund and the National Wildlife Federation. She attributed her 65-year (in 2005) marriage to "L.I." to their mutual interest in government and politics, and the fact that she was "a feminist who was married to one." Survivors include her husband Leslie, Manhattan; one son, Christopher and his wife Kimberly Rieger, Topeka; former daughter-in-law Kathy Brown Rieger, Stony Creek, Conn.; and three grandchildren, Sara Rieger Ayres and her husband John of Oak Park, Ill., Jana Rieger of Kansas City, Mo., and Michael Rieger, of San Francisco; and a great-grandchild, Gabrielle Lauren Ayres. Memorial services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Chapel with the Rev. R.C. McConnell officiating. Online condolences may be left for the family through the funeral home website at www.ymlfuneralhome.com. In accordance with her wishes, the family suggests memorial gifts to the Rieger-McCrerey KSU memorial for scholarships to the Department of Political Science or the Department of Music, or to the Multiple Sclerosis Research Fund. Memorial contributions may be left in care of the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, 1616 Poyntz Ave., Manhattan, 66502. Page: a2

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is Rosalys McCrerey Rieger's memorial?
Rosalys McCrerey Rieger's memorial is located at: Mount Hope Cemetery, Hiawatha, Brown County, USA.
When did Rosalys McCrerey Rieger death?
Rosalys McCrerey Rieger death on 10 Nov 2007 in
Where are the coordinates of the Rosalys McCrerey Rieger's memorial?
Latitude: 39.8497009
Longitude: -95.5156021

Family Members:

Parent

Alexander McCrerey

(1887 - 1960)

Maude Bateman McCrerey

(1890 - 1960)

Spouse

Leslie Ivan Rieger

(1917 - 2017)

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Mount Hope Cemetery
Hiawatha, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.8497009, -95.5156021

2. Hiawatha Cemetery
Hiawatha, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.8601799, -95.5265198

3. Bemis Cemetery
Hiawatha, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.8194900, -95.5668300

4. Claytonville Cemetery
Horton, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.7766991, -95.5046997

5. Niles Cemetery
Hiawatha, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.8730900, -95.6126300

6. Ununda Cemetery
Robinson, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.8582993, -95.4143982

7. Oakland Cemetery
Padonia, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9273900, -95.5610900

8. Rose Hill Cemetery
Robinson, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.8097000, -95.4139023

9. Shelton Cemetery
Hamlin, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.8852997, -95.6393967

10. Hart Cemetery
Reserve, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9519005, -95.5366974

11. Carson Cemetery
Hamlin, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.8810200, -95.6483100

12. Madison Cemetery
Robinson, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.7717700, -95.4201700

13. Kenyon Cemetery
Robinson, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9122000, -95.3964600

14. Hamlin Cemetery
Hamlin, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9206009, -95.6292877

15. Pleasant Hill Cemetery
Irving Township, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9435997, -95.4328232

16. Powhattan Cemetery
Powhattan, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.7681007, -95.6288986

17. Pleasant Hill Cemetery
Fairview, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.8411800, -95.6716400

18. Saint Paul Lutheran Cemetery
Fairview, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.8559700, -95.6779700

19. Upper Wolf Lutheran Cemetery
Robinson, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.7690010, -95.3893509

20. Cornelison Cemetery
Reserve, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9754105, -95.5485687

21. Pleasant Ridge Cemetery
Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.7928009, -95.3654022

22. Laus Creek Cemetery
Reserve, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9754105, -95.4699936

23. Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
Fairview, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.8559700, -95.6858500

24. Carr Cemetery
Everest, Brown County, USA
Coordinate: 39.7254600, -95.4521600