Teresa Ann Riley was born on September 24, 1936, in Graves County near Mayfield, Ky. She was the seventh child of Cecil Anthony Riley and Mary Lucille Sanderson Riley. Her older brothers and sisters were Cecil, Margie, Wilma, Joseph, Mary and James. Her younger siblings were John, Ruth, and Roy.
Teresa Ann was baptized at St. Joseph Church in Mayfield on Oct. 25, 1936. She was confirmed on May 23, 1946, by Bishop Francis R. Cotton.
After completing grade school and high school, she answered the call to become a religious. She entered the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph as a postulant on September 7, 1954. One year later, she received her habit and became Sister Mary Anthony. (Later she returned to her baptismal name.)
Three years after she entered, after making her first vows, she went to St. Leonard School in Louisville, Ky., to teach first grade. While there she continued working on her degree at Brescia College in Owensboro, Ky., during the summers. Her teaching career took her to Precious Blood School in Owensboro and Seven Holy Founders at Affton, Mo. While there, during the summers, she attended Western Kentucky University and received a master’s degree in elementary education.
She continued teaching in elementary schools until 1978. At that time, Sister George Ann Cecil invited her to come to Brescia. While there she worked in several different departments. She continued her work there for the next 14 years.
From there she served as a pastoral associate in several parishes, a teacher at Owensboro Catholic High School, in the business office at the Motherhouse and then retired to the Mount in 2018.
Sister Teresa, 84, died November 24, 2020, at Mount Saint Joseph, in her 65th year of religious life. In compliance with health and public safety directives, the funeral and wake service were private. The Funeral Mass was at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, December 4, 2020, in Mount Saint Joseph Chapel. Burial was in the convent cemetery.