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March 13, 2018
Services
Memorial visitation will be held Saturday, March 17, 2018 from 2-5 PM at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne. A 5PM Memorial Service will be held at the funeral home following the visitation hours.
Hugh O’Reilly, age 98, of Cedar Crest Village in Pompton Plains, formerly an over fifty year resident of the Packanack Lake Section of Wayne, passed peacefully at home on Tuesday, March 13, 2018.
He was born in Belfast, Ireland. At the age of 3, his family came to the United States on the S. S. Cameronia sailing out of Londonderry. They settled in Passaic, New Jersey and were raised in the Saint Nicholas Parish in Passaic. As a youth he helped support his family during the Great Depression and went to a Depression Work Camp in Haledon to learn a trade. He would talk about his time in the work camp and how he helped to build the rock wall along Goffle Road in Hawthorne. On February 16, 1942 he entered the US Army and served as a Tank Crewman. He served in Naples-Foggia and Rome-Arno, the North Apennines, and the PO Valley Campaigns. For his service he received the European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster Medals. He was honorably discharged on September 28, 1945.
After his service, Hugh found work as a machinist for the U.S. Rubber Company in Passaic, where they made the Keds sneakers. He worked there for thirty-three years until the company moved away. He later worked for the Passaic Board of Elections for about twenty years.
Hugh met a pretty and smart woman named Phyllis Kay through friends. They soon fell in love and married on February 18, 1951 at Saint Josephs Church in Paterson. They drove to Florida in a black Pontiac and honeymooned in Fort Lauderdale. With the help of the G.I. Bill the young couple were able to buy a home at 41 Hillcrest Drive in Wayne where they raised their family and called home for over fifty years. They have enjoyed a loving marriage of sixty-seven years having spent the autumn years of their life at Cedar Crest Village in Pompton Plains.
Hugh will be remembered as the kind of person who was always inquisitive by nature and always seeking to learn. He was truly self-taught in many ways. His machinist heart loved to analyze just about everything around him and he especially enjoyed looking at different tools and how they were used. He was a craftsman and forever tinkering. He built an addition to his home, took apart a 1952 “Willys” automobile and rebuilt it. He amazingly built a custom trailer that the family took on their annual camping vacations to Cape Cod. He and Phyllis were blessed to travel to many and varied places all around the world including: Antarctica on a Russian research ship, Argentina, Easter Island, Tibet, the British Isles, China, and Italy to name a few. His curiosity regarding how things worked carried over to his travel as well. He was always fascinated by the tools and machines the varied cultures he encountered used. His breadth of knowledge was wide and varied and as of late he was trying to figure out the iPhone.
Hugh is survived by his wife Phyllis O’Reilly; his children: Jack O’Reilly and his wife Mary, Dr.Michael O’Reilly and his wife Saundra, Maura Kayal and her husband John, Jean O’Reilly, and Brian O’Reilly; his eight grandchildren: Brendan O’Reilly, Sean O’Reilly, Padraic O’Reilly, AndreaKayal, Jeffrey Kayal, Daniel Kayal, Ryan Kayal, and Shannon O’Reilly Leahy, one greatgrandchild Opal Faye O’Reilly. He was the loved brother of the late Joseph O’Reilly, Margaret(Peggy) nee Biss and Kathleen O’Reilly.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the "Cedar Crest Resident Care Fund" with "In Memory of Hugh O'Reilly" written in the memo line of the check. Contributions can be mailed to: Cedar Crest, Attn: Department of Philanthropy, 1 Cedar Crest Drive, Pompton Plains, NJ 07444.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Memorial visitation will be held Saturday, March 17, 2018 from 2-5 PM at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne. A 5PM Memorial Service will be held at the funeral home following the visitation hours.
March 13, 2018
Services
Memorial visitation will be held Saturday, March 17, 2018 from 2-5 PM at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne. A 5PM Memorial Service will be held at the funeral home following the visitation hours.
Hugh O’Reilly, age 98, of Cedar Crest Village in Pompton Plains, formerly an over fifty year resident of the Packanack Lake Section of Wayne, passed peacefully at home on Tuesday, March 13, 2018.
He was born in Belfast, Ireland. At the age of 3, his family came to the United States on the S. S. Cameronia sailing out of Londonderry. They settled in Passaic, New Jersey and were raised in the Saint Nicholas Parish in Passaic. As a youth he helped support his family during the Great Depression and went to a Depression Work Camp in Haledon to learn a trade. He would talk about his time in the work camp and how he helped to build the rock wall along Goffle Road in Hawthorne. On February 16, 1942 he entered the US Army and served as a Tank Crewman. He served in Naples-Foggia and Rome-Arno, the North Apennines, and the PO Valley Campaigns. For his service he received the European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster Medals. He was honorably discharged on September 28, 1945.
After his service, Hugh found work as a machinist for the U.S. Rubber Company in Passaic, where they made the Keds sneakers. He worked there for thirty-three years until the company moved away. He later worked for the Passaic Board of Elections for about twenty years.
Hugh met a pretty and smart woman named Phyllis Kay through friends. They soon fell in love and married on February 18, 1951 at Saint Josephs Church in Paterson. They drove to Florida in a black Pontiac and honeymooned in Fort Lauderdale. With the help of the G.I. Bill the young couple were able to buy a home at 41 Hillcrest Drive in Wayne where they raised their family and called home for over fifty years. They have enjoyed a loving marriage of sixty-seven years having spent the autumn years of their life at Cedar Crest Village in Pompton Plains.
Hugh will be remembered as the kind of person who was always inquisitive by nature and always seeking to learn. He was truly self-taught in many ways. His machinist heart loved to analyze just about everything around him and he especially enjoyed looking at different tools and how they were used. He was a craftsman and forever tinkering. He built an addition to his home, took apart a 1952 “Willys” automobile and rebuilt it. He amazingly built a custom trailer that the family took on their annual camping vacations to Cape Cod. He and Phyllis were blessed to travel to many and varied places all around the world including: Antarctica on a Russian research ship, Argentina, Easter Island, Tibet, the British Isles, China, and Italy to name a few. His curiosity regarding how things worked carried over to his travel as well. He was always fascinated by the tools and machines the varied cultures he encountered used. His breadth of knowledge was wide and varied and as of late he was trying to figure out the iPhone.
Hugh is survived by his wife Phyllis O’Reilly; his children: Jack O’Reilly and his wife Mary, Dr.Michael O’Reilly and his wife Saundra, Maura Kayal and her husband John, Jean O’Reilly, and Brian O’Reilly; his eight grandchildren: Brendan O’Reilly, Sean O’Reilly, Padraic O’Reilly, AndreaKayal, Jeffrey Kayal, Daniel Kayal, Ryan Kayal, and Shannon O’Reilly Leahy, one greatgrandchild Opal Faye O’Reilly. He was the loved brother of the late Joseph O’Reilly, Margaret(Peggy) nee Biss and Kathleen O’Reilly.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the "Cedar Crest Resident Care Fund" with "In Memory of Hugh O'Reilly" written in the memo line of the check. Contributions can be mailed to: Cedar Crest, Attn: Department of Philanthropy, 1 Cedar Crest Drive, Pompton Plains, NJ 07444.
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