Mary was born September 28, 1928 in Queens, NYC, to Mary and Edward Boyce, recently arrived from Ireland. She attended St. Agnes Academic School in Queens, NYC, where as a schoolgirl she once ran on the Madison Square Gardens indoor track. She married Edward J. O'Reilly also in Queens, NYC, on September 4, 1948.
Mary's first jobs included working at Macy's 5th Ave flagship store and as phone operator at AT&T in the 1940's. After her marriage to Edward, the family lived in Corona, Queens, NYC, followed by Williston Park, Long Island, NYC, then to Kalamazoo, MI, before settling in Atlanta, GA (Dunwoody).
Mary is preceded in death by husband Edward, son John, daughter Mary Ann, and brother Jackie.
She is survived by three children, sons Edward (and Bonnie) and Kenneth (and Maureen), daughter Jeanne Banks (and Danny). She has 11 grandkids— Eamon, Michael, Patrick, Scott, Teddy, Lauren, Caitlyn, Sam, Chase, Neeve and Cade— and 6 great grandkids.
Mary lived a full, family-filled life and traveled widely in retirement with Ed, visiting Europe, the Canadian Rockies, several cruises to the Caribbean and New England, plus various trips to Ireland. With her positive and upbeat personality, she hosted many family events and especially loved to cook. Much love, she will be dearly missed.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 15, 2021 at 11:00am at H.M. Patterson & Son - Oglethorpe Hill Chapel. The family will receive friends one hour prior.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the American Heart Association in Mary's memory.
