Muriel Garner Rider

Muriel Garner Rider, 98, passed away peacefully on November 23 at her home in the Galloway Ridge retirement community in Fearrington Village, Pittsboro, N.C. 

Muriel was born in Kinston, NC, on December 29, 1920, to Carl and Bessie Garner, and she married Jack Rider in 1939.  During World War II, she lived in New York City, attended night classes at NYU, and worked for Chase Bank. At Chase Bank, she became an assistant to Eugene Black, who went on to become President of the World Bank in 1949.  Muriel and Jack returned to Kinston in 1947.  Together they founded Rider Printing Company, where they published two weekly newspapers, the Lenoir County News and the Jones County Journal.  In the sixties they became principal owners of radio stations WRNS and WFTC.

Muriel was a talented artist who painted throughout her whole life and participated in juried art shows across the state.  She was a competitive golfer and continued to play well into her nineties.

She will be missed by her daughter, Jan Rider of Pittsboro, NC, her daughter, Libby and her husband Bernice Jones of Brooklyn, NY, granddaughter Olivia and her husband, Jeff Ramsey of Brooklyn, NY, grandson, Jackson Jones of Manhattan, NY, and great grandchildren, Willa and Ida Ramsey of Brooklyn, NY.   She was predeceased by her husband, Jack Rider, her son, Jack Rider, Jr., and brothers, Wallace and Carl Garner Jr.

            Graveside services will be held on Saturday, December 7, at 11:00 a.m. at Westview Cemetery in Kinston. The Reverend Beth Hood, Senior Pastor at Wesley United Methodist Church in Wilmington will lead the service.