Celebration of Life Remembrance for Geraldine Louise Riska

Geraldine Louise Riska passed away on October 12, 2023. She was 89 years old. Louise was born on March 28,1934 in Stroud, OK to Charles (Ah-quah-ho-ke) and Mammie (nee Wallace) Connolly. She was the granddaughter of Aleck (Wah Wah to Sah) Connolly who was an ambassador for the Sac and Fox Nation to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, DC.

When Louise was 9 years old, she and her two of her sisters, Charlene and Barbara (Bobbie), were sent to the Pawnee Indian Boarding School. Their younger sister, Linda, was 2 years old at the time. When the 3 older girls arrived at the school, they expected their youngest to have been on an earlier train and already there. She never did arrive and it took nearly 65 years to have contact with her again. Even though their father was alive and living in another state, Linda was made a ward of the court possibly she could, in the vernacular of the time, pass for white and subsequently, she was adopted by a white couple named Waller.

Louise graduated from the Pawnee Indian School after she completed ninth grade. She became a nanny for the Principle of the High School she was attending. As a nanny she was expected to help with housekeeping chores and she knew how to keep house very well. "Most Indian girls didn't work out in the homes they were sent. How do you know how to sweep when you've only lived in a place with dirt floors? How do you know how to make a bed when all you've known in sleeping on the floor? When she was a junior in High School, the Pawnee Indian School sent her to live with a family in Minnesota, and she attended Marshall high School in Minneapolis. Her senior year she lived with the Herb Johnson family in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, where she graduated one of the top in her class. She then went into the Teaching Training program at Winona State Teacher's College where she completed her studies. It was at this time that she met a fellow student teacher, named Kenneth Riska. They were married for 42 years and had 3 children, Terry, Kelly, and Chaley. When Louise's marriage to Kenneth ended, she moved from Austin, Minn. to Wausau, Wisconsin, to be near her eldest son, Terry.

Louise was a life-long avid reader and liked to read the classics, biographies, human interest, and psychology. She was very interested in human behavior and through her reading she was able to help herself through difficult times. She had a brilliant, inquisitive mind and she wanted her children to have a college education and make a difference in the world. She believed in providing service to others and advocated to her children to go into the helping profession. Terry became a teacher, Kelly an Occupational Therapist, and Charles managed facilities that took care of severely mentally and physical disable adults. She also encouraged their creative side resulting in Terry working in Theatre, Kelly being a fine artist and Charley playing the guitar in various rock bands.

Because her own childhood was so disrupted, she keenly felt the loss of her Native American culture. She became a member of the Sac and Fox Nation to which her father, Charles, was half blooded and her grandmother, Elica Gokey, was full blood Sac and Fox. She kept every edition of the Sac and Fox newsletter and read countless history books on Indigenous People of North America.

Louise was preceded in death by her parents; her sisters, Charlene and Bobbie; her half brothers, Charles JR. and Alex, and her son Charles Patrick. She is survived by her son, Terry (Lynn) Riska and daughter, Kelly Riska (Tony Sweazy); her grandchildren, Joseph Riksa (Rachel), Elizabeth Riska, and Leif (Natti) Sweazy and great grandson, Forrest Sweazy. The family is still unsure about Louise's sister Linda Waller, as they have lost touch with her. Illustrating the consequences of the tragic history and continued struggles of all Native American people.

Memorials in Louise's name may be made to The Neighbor's Place in Wausau, Wisconsin. There is a donation button on their website. We know that Louise would greatly appreciate your kind gesture.

Mid Wisconsin Cremation Society is assisting family at this time.  Online condolences may be expressed at MWCS.WS