Historian, traveler, and professor emeritus John T. Reilly, one of the longest-serving faculty members Mount Saint Mary College has ever known, passed away on Tuesday, July 9 at the age of 84.
Reilly was born on January 6, 1940, the only child of John Reilly and Helen Keville Reilly. Fittingly, he was the family historian, even traveling to Ireland to meet relatives and to fill out the family tree. He was also a lifelong Roman Catholic.
Known to his pupils as “Dr. Reilly” and to his many friends and colleagues as “John” or “Jack,” Reilly touched the lives of thousands of Mount students over the course of his 48 years of service. A dedicated educator, Reilly continued teaching until his retirement from the Mount only one year ago on June 30, 2023.
Before his retirement, Reilly shared the title of the current longest-serving professor with William Lahar (Chemistry) and Thomas Sarro (Biology). The three men all started at the college in 1975, with Lahar and Sarro continuing their careers at the Mount to this day.
Reilly’s colleagues will miss his devotion to the college, his desire to aid faculty and staff, and his dedication to his students.
“I thank God for John’s loyalty and love for the Mount,” said Sr. Peggy Murphy, OP, a retired Religious Studies professor and current adjunct at the college. “He remembered and recounted all of the Mount’s history, and especially his gratitude to the founding sisters and his history colleagues, who had mentored him.”
Michael Fox, associate Professor of Business Law and Pre-Law Advisor, noted that Reilly was one of the first people he met upon starting his career at the Mount. Few could match the longtime professor’s institutional knowledge.
“When I first started here at Mount Saint Mary College, John was quick to share information and stories from when he was pre-law advisor many years ago,” said Fox. “He was a good colleague and a champion for the Mount. He will be missed.”
Reilly taught at the Mount for nearly five decades, specializing in New York State history, the American Revolution, and American diplomatic history. He chaired the Division of Social Sciences for 13 years and was an active participant in faculty meetings.
His research examined the effects of the sale of large Loyalist estates on the democratization of landholding in New York. Loyalism was a topic of increasing interest during the Bicentennial period, and his work intersected with that of other scholars, including Yale University historian Staughton Lynd.
Reilly earned a Bachelor’s in Social Science from Fairfield University in Connecticut, and both a Master’s in History and a Ph.D. in American History from Fordham University.
Outside of his work at the Mount, Reilly was active in the Explorer’s Club Annual Dinner (ECAD) and chaired the dinner’s preparation committee for several years. One notable year, Reilly rode into the hotel ballroom on camelback.
Reilly also loved to travel. As a result of circling the globe, he belonged to the Circumnavigation Society. He was also a member of the Explorer’s Club, the American Alpine Club, the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Mohonk Preserve, and many other local and national groups.
In an interview with Mount Saint Mary College Magazine upon his retirement last year, Reilly discussed how the college had changed and grown in the decades since he started his career. He would miss teaching, he explained, but Reilly was excited to see what future historians would bring to the table: “The discipline is changing, a new generation of majors has arrived, and technology in the classroom is the future.”