A son of Philadelphia, Andrew Thomson Reilley Jr. fancied himself a Scotsman— for good reason. His father, Andrew T. Reilley Sr. emigrated in 1905 with his parents and siblings from Hamilton, Scotland (near Glasgow), and years later it was not unusual to hear an old-country Scottish brogue at family gatherings. We could always count on Andy to don his red plaid pants and tie for family Christmas parties, a tradition as unbreakable as the singing of "I Belong to Glasgow" and "Who Killed Cock Robin?" The end of September 1936 marked the beginning for Mr. Reilley. Montana Street in the Germantown section of Philly was his stomping ground for those early years. In 1941, Andrew Jr. and his parents moved to Metuchen, New Jersey—the setting of many childhood adventures, some of which he recorded in his self-published autobiography. At Rutgers, he fell in love with choral music through his participation in the Glee Club. Soon after that, his affections shifted to "The most beautiful woman in the world," also known as "My Best Earthly Friend." He and Susan Djorup were married in the summer of 1960.
Polite, gentlemanly, kind, thoughtful… Andrew was probably the most considerate person his friends had ever met. Even as his health began to fail, he continued his long habit of saying "Thank you much" to his caregivers. Many were the moments when he went out of his way to offer a word of encouragement to an unsuspecting acquaintance, or appreciate a green-shirted employee for their service at Quarryville Presbyterian Retirement Community. A career that began at Prudential and ended back at Rutgers as a personnel administrator concluded with an early retirement. His second career started with two degrees, a Masters in Divinity and New Testament from Biblical Theological Seminary. Andy and Sue then moved to New Tripoli, PA to helm a small Evangelical Free church. Retiring once again, Sue, Andrew, and Andrew, Sr. found their way to Tavares, Florida to manage the end of life years for Sue's parents. When Andrew Sr. passed away at age 100 in 2005, it was back to Pennsylvania and QPRC. The clatter of Amish buggies through Lancaster County’s verdant farmland furnished a delightful backdrop for their final years. Andrew has gone before a number of people who love him. Children Elizabeth C. Reilley and her husband Steve Borick of Honolulu, Hawaii; Jessica and Andrew T. Reilley III of Savannah, Georgia and their boys Thomson, Jace, Mac and Rhys; Katherine Reilley Chilcote, her husband Brian of West Chester, Pennsylvania and their children Nolan, Shannon and Meagan; his sister-in-law Wendy Pacek and her husband Denny Libby of Altoona, Florida; and nephew Gregory Pacek of Baden, Pennsylvania. Add to that many more friends and relations both near and far. He was predeceased by his wife, Susan Djorup Reilley in 2017. As a final act of love and service to all of us, Andrew has donated his earthly remains to the Humanities Gifts Registry, a nonprofit agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania which handles the distribution of donated remains to various state medical and dental schools for teaching purposes. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Salvation Army of Lancaster, 131 South Queen Street, Lancaster, PA 17603. reynoldsandshivery.com Comments are closed.
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