ROBERT REILLY

Dear Robert, If you are the Robert Michael Reilly that attended Fairfield Universty in the 70s I want to offer my condolences on your loss. Sincerely Cheryl Vitale Pagliarella

I would like to share a letter great grandmother, E. A. Reilly La Pointe wrote to me when I was a very little girl, presumably intended for when I would be old enough to read. The letterhead reads: E. A. La Pointe, 218 Jefferson Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida.

My dear Mary Margrett
Cooperation

It ain't the guns nor armerents
Nor the sums the people pay
But close cooperation that makes them win the day
It ain't the individual
Nor the Armey as a whole
But the everlasting teamwork-
Of every blooming soul
x G.G.

I cherished this advice for a lifetime and choose this opportunity to pass on G.G.'s wisdom to family and friends in hope of a better tomorrow.
Mary Margaret

Thoughts to the family in memory of Robert Reilly. Although brief, I remember his keen sense of family wit,Irish ire, and devoted attention to his wife Mary Lou, as being exemplary of his character and faith.

As Mary Lou would question, looking up the stars in Scaly Mt, NC - "What are they doing up there??"

Dear Reilly Family,
Sorry for the loss of your father. He will be greatly missed. I will miss his songs, stories of Miami Beach, and especially miss his sayings like, "Go to work" and "Do you know what day it is? The day after the day your rent was due!" from a story about his grandmother, GG, who is was renting from, and my all time favorite: "He who buys what is does not need, will someday need what he can not buy."
we look forward to the time when Jesus promise at John 5:28 & 29 will be fulfilled.
Sincerely,
Bridgette and Kameel Saleeby

It is up to us now.
The children and grandchildren of a small group of extraordinary, exceptional human beings. Bob Reilly carried the banner until the end. It wasn’t he first time he was accused of being a ringleader.
To say that he was the last of a ‘band of brothers’ would be a disservice. That would mean that many people have had the rare opportunity to know what the sons of St Patrick are all about, and we are among the very few who have had that privilege.
Boyhood friends, to be sure. Yet no one ever went their separate way. Kotte, Kelly, Gosselin, Manly. Even Mendelssohn in the Scaly years.
I remember my Dad’s birthday My children and I drove up to Rocky Knob to surprise him on his 68th.(?) Only to be outdone by the Kids -- Riley, Manley and Mendelssohn, Hiding in the bushes waiting to scare him.
No doubt, these people lived hard and played hard.
Who can ever forget the boat trips, the Keys, the first fish caught, the legendary poker games, the football rivalries.
Reilly donning a wet suit in order to take the waters on my 40th, when he was a mere 75.
Yet I suppose many families may have that, if they are lucky.
What sets this whole thing apart for me is the fact that they adored us, their children. However hard it may have been for them at times to express it, especially as those of us who grew up in the sixties may have challenged their resolve, they never wavered.
They valued intelligence, and even tolerated a different point of view as long as it was carefully considered and stood the test of Aristotelian logic. To parent not one, but many a genius is a daunting task.
Our parents had a world view that in everyway included something beyond them, and it was something far beyond their knowlege that sustained them, always.
However scared I was of Bob Reilly when I was a child, his gruffness, his opinions and his often outrageous behavior, I also came to know him when I was an adult, and saw the tender and loving side of him as he cared for Mary Lou. His unending patience revealed a side of him that to this day inspires me.
May you rest in peace Roberto. Your work is done. A life well lived.
And the rare gem we are privileged to have as a result is a treasure.
May Bob's legacy prevail, and may we honor it always.
Christy Kelly