John J. “Jack” Riley Jr. of Callawassie Island passed away in Beaufort, South Carolina on Feb. 20, 2020. He was 88 years old. 

Jack was born to John and Jeannette Riley in Lynn, Massachusetts on Mother’s Day, 1931. He graduated from Georgetown University in 1952 as the Cadet Colonel of the Air Force R.O.T.C. He served as an Air Force first lieutenant during the Korean War. Days after his discharge in 1954, he married Jean Esme Thomson (Tommy). He earned his MBA degree at Syracuse University.

Jack’s career in consumer goods marketing included posts at Lever Brothers in New York, then Gillette and Superior Brands in Boston. He retired from Superior Brands as senior vice president of marketing. With Tommy, he owned a bookstore in Massachusetts. Jack and Tommy enjoyed 29 years of retirement, sharing time in Maine and South Carolina. In 2014, South Carolina became their year-round home.

With Tommy, he traveled extensively in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, Canada, and the Caribbean. In retirement he took courses at Wellesley College, worked in literacy programs for immigrants, taught English as a second language for the Red Cross, volunteered at food banks in Boston and Beaufort, acted as a docent at the Port Royal Sound Maritime Center, and was an active member of Boothbay Harbor, Maine, and Beaufort Catholic churches.

He is survived by Tommy, wife of 65 years; three children, Jeannette LaPoint and her husband Bruce, John III and his wife Betsy, and Victoria Anne Riley and her husband Tyler; six grandchildren: Fitzhugh, Alexandra, Thomson, William, Brittany, and Isaiah, great-grandson, Ike; his brother, Daniel and his wife Liz, and many cousins, nieces and nephews.

A Mass of Christian Burial, followed by a private interment, will be held at St. Peter’s Historic Church in Beaufort on Saturday, March 28 at 2 p.m. Anderson Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Donations may be made to Low Country Food Bank or the Port Royal Sound Foundation.