Dorothy R. O'Reilly

Dorothy Ann O’Reilly was born on November 24, 1922 in Port Washington, New York to Josephine Hemming Riley and John Joseph Riley. After graduating from Great Neck High School, “Dee,” as she was known, continued the family legacy of attending Vassar College, where her stepmother Marie Gregory Riley and sister, Elizabeth Riley, also studied. Special circumstances of World War II led Vassar College to combine the graduating classes of 1944-5 and after graduation she went to France to serve with the American Red Cross as a volunteer public relations assistant. She returned to New York after the war and married Francis Albert Harper in 1948. The couple lived on Long Island where their three children were born. After divorcing, she worked in New York City as an editor at Good Housekeeping and Vogue magazines and was active in the Junior League.

In 1964, she moved with her family to Santa Barbara, California. Upon marrying Maurice Francis O’Reilly in 1970, she moved to Akron, Ohio where her husband was director of public relations for Goodyear International Corp. After her husband’s retirement, the couple settled in Orange, Virginia in 1985.

Mrs. O’Reilly was passionate about gardening and enjoyed her 20-year membership in the Dolley Madison Garden Club. The club awarded her the Octavia Arrington Cameron Bowl for her longtime service, particularly for organizing annual fundraising garden tours for the club. Among her community service accomplishments, Mrs. O’Reilly was a founding docent of James Madison’s Montpelier and helped open the historic home outside Orange to the public.

Following the death of her husband in 2004, Mrs. O’Reilly moved to Hallendale, Florida to live near her youngest daughter. She died May 31, 2010 at the age of 87.

Mrs. O’Reilly is survived by her children, Duncan Thornton Harper and Pamela Harper Gilbert, both of Santa Barbara; and Alix Leslie Harper of Sunny Isles Beach. She is also survived by her sons-in-laws Dr. Kirk S. Gilbert and Aleks Rosenberg, and grandchildren Alexandra Ramstrum, Andre Harper-Rosenberg, and Casey Gilbert. Survivors also include her sister, Elizabeth Riley Kronen, brother John Gregory Riley, and numerous nieces and nephews.

A memorial Mass will be said at 10 A.M. Saturday, June 5, at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Sunny Isles Beach. Donations may be made in her memory to Lighthouse of the Blind, 601 SW 8th Avenue, Miami, FL 33130.

Arrangements under the direction of Memorial Plan/Lithgow-Bennett-Philbrick Funeral Home, North Miami, FL.