Patrick Joseph O'Reilly

Patrick Joseph O'Reilly a thoughtful, generous, and "loveable old codger" died at home on January 10, 2002 after a lengthy illness. He was 73 years old. Patrick was born on September 5, 1928. He grew up and attended school in Rochester, New York. Patrick hitchhiked to California in 1949 after serving in the United States Marine Corps. He attended Loyola Marymount University where he obtained his Bachelor's degre e and later attended USC receiving a Master's degree in Social Work. Upon gradution, he met Harriet Rothwell, married, and had three children. Patrick worked as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in numerous diverse setting and retired 1991 from the Counseling Center at Cal Poly, Pomona. He was very accomplished in his field of psychotherapy and teaching. During his career, Patrick, taking along his wife and three children, served in the Peace Corps in Somalia East Africa as Deputy Director. A few years after returning stateside in 1969, his wife died and he readily took on the responsibilities of a single parent. In 1995 he married Julie Symington with whom he shared great adventures and true love. Travel, gardening on his hillside, his dog, reading, music, food, spiritual growth, and especially family were his loves. He also took great pride in his Irish and German heritage. He was a member and regular congregant of Holy Name of Mary Catholic Parish in San Dimas where he gave of himsef and his opin ion openly and without hesitation. If you wanted to find Patrick on a Saturday morning, the Pomona Farmer's Market was the place to go. Patrick is survived by his wife, Julie; three children, Ann Skenderian; Cyril and Kevin O'Reilly; his son-in-law, Daniel Skenderian; daughter-in-law, Shelley Hahn; stepson and wife, Andy & Laurie Winston; four grandchildren, Nicholas; Kinzy; Cassady, and Daisy and her mother Stacy; brother and sister-in-law, Jim and Joan O'Reilly; four nieces, Tracy; Mary; Sharon, and Ka thy; two nephews, Dand and Mike; father and mother-in-law, Al and Rachel Norris; close family friends, Sylvia Scharf; Terry Malvery, and his adopted son and daughter-in-law, Javier and Esther Loya, and last but not least, his loyal and trusting dog, Buster. Patrick will be dearly remembered and sorely missed.