Glyndon D. Riley, Ph.D.

Glyndon Daughtry Riley, born October 31, 1929, passed away September 2, 2014, in Laguna Beach, California, at the age of 84. He died peacefully at home, surrounded by his loving family.

Glyn is survived by his wife of almost 46 years, Rae Jeanna Riley, his sister, Paula Perry, his four children—Randy Scott Sargent, Randall Glen Riley, Lori Suzette Andrews, and Rene Ellen Riley—and his grandchildren, Bethany Anne Andrews, David James Andrews, and Katherine Elizabeth Sargent.

In his personal life, Glyn was best known for his faith in God, his love of his family, and his quick sense of humor. A traveling Church of Christ minister in his youth, his knowledge of the Bible was legendary.

Glyn had an extraordinary capacity to see the good in others. In whatever he did, it was done with a high sense of responsibility and integrity. One of his favorite sayings was, "That which maketh a man to be desired is his kindness."

Professionally, Glyn was known as a pioneer in the field of stuttering, making outstanding contributions to the field.

Glyn was born in Huntsville, Texas, to Virgil Paul and Harriet Daughtry Riley. As a teenager, the family lived on a Northern California ranch, where Glyn rode his beloved Arabian mare, Bobby Socks, a horse no one else could tame.

After graduating from high school, Glyn attended Pepperdine University in Los Angeles, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1952 and his Master of Arts degree in 1959. In 1963, he received his doctorate in speech pathology from Florida State University.

While in Florida, Glyn spent his summers at Camp Seagull in North Carolina, where he was in charge of the motorboating program. His love of boats, boating, and fishing would continue throughout his life.

After graduation, Glyn returned to California, where he taught at Pepperdine from 1963 to 1966. In 1966, be began teaching at California State University-Fullerton in the field of communicative disorders, becoming a full professor in 1974. He became Professor Emeritus in 1986.

During 40 years in university settings, Glyn taught courses on stuttering and mentored a large number of graduate students preparing to become speech/language clinicians.

On October 19, 1968, Glyn married Rae Jeanna Sargent, in Claremont, California. Theirs was a love for the ages and indeed endures beyond our earthly bounds. Knowing they were richly blessed, their song was "Our Cup Runneth Over (With Love)."

The couple loved to travel, making frequent trips to Europe and the South Pacific. They especially loved the Big Island of Hawaii and the Tahitian island of Moorea. Closer to home, they often retreated to the Zane Grey Pueblo Hotel on Catalina Island to relax and write.

Together, Glyndon Riley, Ph.D., and Jeanna Riley, Ph.D., became internationally known for their work in the field of stuttering. Their research led to breakthroughs in diagnostics and treatment, including the Stuttering Severity Instrument, a Component Model to describe a child who is vulnerable to developing chronic stuttering, and the Speech Motor Training Program.

In 1971, Glyn and Jeanna founded Rileys Speech and Language Institute in Santa Ana/Tustin, which they operated until 2005.

In 1987, Glyn was elected Fellow of the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA). In 1991, he was elected Fellow of the California Speech-Hearing-Language Association (CASHA). In 1992, Glyn received CASHA's Honors of the Association.

In 1995, Glyn and Jeanna—along with colleagues Robert Emry and Elizabeth Mechling—founded the nonprofit Center for Children Who Stutter on the Cal State University-Fullerton campus. The Center provides expertise in stuttering diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and community education. Fees are based on ability to pay. In 2007, CASHA gave the Center its Program of the Year award for excellence in helping children who stutter.

In 1998, Glyn and Jeanna received the Malcolm Hough Fraser Community Service Award for excellence in the field of stuttering, one of the highest honors in the field of fluency.

"Glyn was among the few who excelled both as a master clinician and an accomplished investigator, striving to advance scientific knowledge about stuttering," said his former colleague Ehud Yairi, Ph.D.

In the mid-1990s, Glyn became involved in stuttering research at the Brain Imaging Center at the University of California-Irvine. In most recent years, he was on the research team that conducted large-scale clinical studies of new drugs for the treatment of stuttering.

A private service at sea will be held on October 18, 2014, during which Glyn's ashes will be scattered near Shaw's Cove, the family's beloved gathering place.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to the Center for Children Who Stutter, www.fullerton.edu/ccws.