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As her killer pleads guilty in court, friends and co-workers reflect on the life of Gloria Riley

Posted at 7:33 PM, Aug 26, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-26 19:46:46-04

Many things come to mind when you mention former Palm Beach County School bus driver Gloria Riley.

She was funny, kind, selfless - and she could school you in a game of bones.
 
“Oh she was a good player in dominoes,” says her co-worker Brevil Noel.
 
Her friends told NewsChannel 5 that the woman they called ‘Glo’ lit up the bus driver lounge whenever she walked in.
 
Her murder nearly a year ago to this day still leaves them in the dark.

“I have to look at her bus everyday,” her co-worker Flosine Powell says. “She drives bus 725. That's kinda the hardest on me...looking at her bus. I really miss her.”

 Those friends are still struggling to fill the void.
 
“It’s been lonely...not seeing her here in the lounge, walking into the office,” coworker Cheryl Bennett. “She was like the mom of everybody in the lounge.”
 
A mom, a sister, a best friend - all wrapped up in one.
 
“My sister needed justice,” Powell says. “And now she can rest now, and so can I.”
 
The lounge many called her domain was renamed in her honor earlier this year as the ‘Gloria J. Riley Drivers Lounge’.
 
“I did put a picture of her over here,” Powell says, pointing to the wall. “So when they're in trouble I say 'Get em Glo’!”

Whether it's through her picture or a game of dominoes, her co-workers say they will ensure her memory stays alive.
 
“I don't talk like Gloria passed away, I always think Gloria is here with us,” Noel says. “Gloria is the type of person you're never gonna meet. Nobody can replace Gloria.”