‘It sounds simplistic, but he was just a really good person.’
My dad, John Riley, and he was originally from Mayo in the west of Ireland, the furthest possible tip on the west coast of Ireland. So, grew up kind of by the sea in the countryside and I think moved over to England in the early 1960s. And then when him and my mum got married, moved up to the North East and settled here and originally settled in Whitley Bay as well. And I think the first place they lived was actually on the same road that I live on now.
He gave really good advice, which is something that I really, I do miss about him. He loved music and he loved humour and he loved socialising. And he was the life and soul of the party, really. He loved finding out about people. He loved telling stories and telling jokes. And he just loved his family, really. He loved that sense of togetherness and security, I guess, from everybody being together. Really, he just wanted everybody to feel happy and safe and together and he loved family celebrations and things.
It sounds simplistic, but he was just a really good person. He had a good heart, and if there was anybody that needed anything at all, if he could help, he didn’t even think about it, it was just something that he did automatically. Whether it was giving somebody a lift somewhere or fixing people’s windows or whatever, if he thought he could help, he would. That was just him. He liked to help people out. He was one of those dads that always gave you lifts everywhere. I can remember, whenever I was with friends, with people at school or at university, and, if their dad didn’t give them a lift somewhere, I always thought it was really strange, because my dad was just our personal taxi driver really. But not because we expected it, but because he enjoyed it.
I suppose my dad was very much a man of nature as well, which I think is quite nice that the tree symbolizes that as well.
Geraldine Astbury was interviewed in 2025 as part of the Trees of Hope Project