Martha Glymph Riley

A Century of Living the Life of Riley 

Martha Glymph Riley, a lifelong resident of Durham, NC, passed away on February 4, 2025, at the age of 101. At the time of her death, she was under the comforting care of the wonderful hospice team at Transitions LifeCare in Cary. 

When Croasdaile Village opened 25 years ago, Martha and her husband, Homer, moved into the independent living section. They moved two miles down Hillandale Road from their longtime home at 2600 Indian Trail. 

In 2022, seven years after Homer had died, Martha moved into The Orchard, Croasdaile’s assisted living section. There, she made new friends and continued to live a life of purpose and community under the staff's loving care and watchful eyes. They called her “Miss Martha” or “Momma Riley” and treated her like royalty, loving on her as if she were their mother. Martha expressed her gratitude to them often, telling them personally, “Thank you. Thank you for taking care of me.” The Riley family will be forever grateful to the Croasdaile staff for pouring their heart and soul into her care. 

Martha’s curiosity knew no bounds. She read her Durham papers front to back until she outlived their publication. She clipped articles and mailed them to family members who would be interested. Known for her witty repartee and competitive spirit, she loved a good time, a game of golf, cards, or ping pong. When it was party time, she always dressed for “Show.” When NC State played basketball or football, she was game on. She was funny with a razor-sharp wit, a ready laugh, and a willing ear. She loved people and was always eager to make new friends, even if she might never see them again. And, she never met a hat she couldn’t wear. 

She loved her hometown of Durham and her native state of North Carolina and lived her whole life here. She could, and would, tell you a thing or two about its history and the people that made the city. Driving her around town, her ongoing commentary was like taking a guided history tour. 

Martha lived a wonderful and full life. The seventh of eight children of Grover Cleveland Glymph and Mary Kelly Glymph, she grew up at 2040 Englewood Avenue. Her home is registered in the Historic Preservation Society of Durham. She attended E. K. Powe Elementary and met the boy of her dreams when they were playing street hockey in West Durham. She was 13, and he was 14. They dated throughout their years together at Durham High School. Homer proposed not long after she graduated. 

Homer enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in the middle of World War II. After boot camp at Paris Island, SC, he got the marching orders to report to Camp Pendleton near San Diego. With that short notice, the engaged couple rushed up their wedding date and were married at the Glymph family home on June 19, 1943. Shortly following the wedding, Homer left for California. 

Emboldened by love and marriage, Martha quickly made plans to join Homer on the West Coast. She quit working in a lab at Duke Hospital, took her savings from her last couple of paychecks, and bought a one-way train ticket to Oceanside, California. The trip took four days and the train was full of soldiers. 

“Those young boys heading off to war treated me like royalty,” she often said in retelling the story. “I don’t know how I would have made it without their kindness.” The long trip proved worth it when she was in Homer’s arms again. 

After the war, she insisted that Homer take advantage of the GI Bill and apply to NC State College. He followed her advice, was accepted, and entered the School of Engineering. 

 They lived in a tiny one-bedroom prefab house in Vetville, the married student housing for veterans, and soon welcomed their first child. The house got tinier and the money even tighter. Together, they saw their way through the cold winters when the snow blew in through the leaky windows and she could see the ground through the flooring. 

 Martha and their baby, Martha Ellen, gave Homer all the incentive and support he needed to study hard and earn his degree. The college also awarded Martha the “Good Wife” award, a certificate honoring her indispensable support of her husband’s collegiate work. For the rest of her life, Martha proudly hung her certificate of merit in her home as a reminder of the “good ole days” and her part in getting their family started on the right foot. With his degree in hand, Homer was interviewed and hired by Nello L. Teer Company of Durham, for which he worked his entire career. 

 With Homer, she cherished her family of five children and the joys of watching them grow, flourish, and have kids of their own who now have kids of their own. She often joked, “We had five kids, one every three years, whether we needed them or not.” 

 With twelve years of separation between her first and fifth child, by the time the youngest left for college, she’d been raising kids for 30 years! She often acknowledged that those years were a blur: running the household, often by herself when Homer’s job took him away for long stretches, picking up kids after school, keeping up with their activities, grocery shopping for seven, and handling the myriad emergencies that came with five kids. It was a lot. An awful lot. But she was game for it all. 

 After the last child left for college, she took full advantage of her freedom. She became quite the competitive golfer, carding at least one hole-in-one and winning the “most improved golfer of the year” award at Croasdaile Country Club. She and her golfing girlfriends played all over the state of North Carolina. 

Then, her seven grandchildren started coming, and she and Homer took to that role like it was made for them. When the grandkids spent time with them, they learned a lot about how Nana and Granddaddy saw things, and they each have special memories and moments of learning the full breadth of love…and discipline Martha and Homer willingly shared. 

 So much life lived well in her 101 years. She was a treasure. 

 Martha is survived by her five children, listed in order of birth: Marti McCracken and her wife, Susan Turner; Lin and his wife, Sylvia; Steve and his wife, Julie; Ginger; and Page and his wife, Maggie. She also leaves seven grandchildren: Kelly, Claire, Clark, Blair, Tim, Peyton, and Russell; and seven great-grandchildren: Keiko, Rhea, Manu, Hazel, Celia Martha, Freya, and Anya; two cousins, Charlie and Bill Stuart, and seven nieces and nephews: Joe Glymph, Denise Glymph, Betsy Ann Whitesel, Brenda Witten, Gary and Kevin Pope, and Scott Perry; and, one sister-in-law, Fran Glymph. 

 She was preceded in death by her parents and her seven siblings: Virginia, Ed, Tom, Joe, Kelly, Betsy, and Grover. 

 The family is planning a Celebration of Life on March 29, 2025, at the Few Chapel at Croasdaile Village. Final details are still being arranged. 

 In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a charitable donation be made to continue Martha and Homer’s legacy of paying it forward by providing financial aid to NC State Civil Engineering students. 

 Donations can be made to the "Homer and Martha Riley Scholarship Endowment” at NC State Engineering Foundation, Inc. Use this link: go.ncsu.edu/rileyscholarshipccee to contribute online. 

Or, make checks out to the NC State Engineering Foundation, Inc., and write “Homer and Martha Riley Scholarship” in the memo line. Mail checks to NC State Engineering Foundation, Campus Box 7901, Raleigh, NC 27695. 

For donors using a charitable trust fund, search for the NC State Engineering Foundation, EIN: 56-6046987.