I've been reading a lot of stories about Maurice Riley. I have a Maurice story too. In the late 80's, two 20 something kids settled in to a big farmhouse in Hopkins. I loved that house but it was alot for us at that time. The economy was absolute crap. Scott was driving for Ben Wynn, I was working for Dr. Havaldar. To say that we were dirt poor wouldn't be a lie. We were stretching every penny. Leveraging everything I could just to make it from one Friday to another. I was pregnant and we had our first son. Who was followed shortly by his brother. 4 mouths to feed in a short time. Thank god Gray’s gave us a charge account for gas and Maurice kept us fed. We had food in the house because he took a chance on us and extended credit. We ate a lot of ring bologna .. and his generosity kept the milk flowing when the boys got older. I often look back and have thought of him and how immensely grateful I was for what he did for us. I always tried to keep the bill paid down. Eventually, Scott took a job that moved us temporarily to Redding California. This was about 1992. When we left I remember us having a $250 grocery tab. That was a lot of money then but I sent him payments through the mail and eventually paid our bill off. He never once said to me that our bill was getting high. I don't remember how long it took me to pay him off. Thank god for people like Maurice Riley.
I will never forget his kindness and generosity during one of the toughest times of my life.
Holly Cronk
Maryville, MO
As posted on Facebook
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