Mary Lou Riker

Mary Lou Riker June 20,1936 - Jan. 19, 2025

Mary Lou was born and raised in southern New Jersey, and pursued her educational degrees and worked in New York city, in and around Boston, and Harrisburg PA. She raised her children in Waltham and Concord MA, and subsequently retired to Cape Cod, Florida, and Scarborough, ME.

Mary Lou was an adventurous and curious traveler, who explored Alaska, post war Europe (by taking one of the first charter flights out of New York) and returned many times to numerous European countries, throwing herself into the cuisine and languages of the nations visited.

As a professional nurse, who also obtained a Masters in Nursing and a second degree in Humanistic Psychology, Mary Lou was always ready to help friends with health or family issues. Her dedication to helping others inspired her to expand into hospital management, becoming a maverick in the field - a woman who helped to break the glass ceiling in upper health care management. She was, in fact, often the only woman at the conference table, and worked passionately to ensure that the role of nurses as fundamental partners in supplying quality health care, was recognized and never undervalued. She was voted as the national representative of the US Nursing Association, won repeated recognition for her innovative ideas and approach to problem solving, and was always well-loved and admired by her staff.

She survived her parents, Gordon and Alice, and also her younger sister Melissa and brother David. Mary Lou leaves her husband Walter Eno, her two daughters from a previous marriage, Pamela and Rebecca, and 6 grandchildren, Benjamin and Nicholas Barbieri, Celia, Lucy, Jonas and Stella Hagman.

A graveside service will be held at 11:00AM on January 31, 2025 at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, MA.