Thomas Reilly

Tom Reilly was a big man, a man of such great strength, courage and charisma. He was a dedicated weightlifter, a man devoted to becoming as strong as the heroes he idolized so much as a boy. Tom succeeded in so many ways. He became the hero he strove to be, to his beloved wife, his children, and the many friends he made along the way. He was a hero for his strongest muscle of all, the heart he shared with all who knew him.

Tom’s story began on a cold winter day in 1953, as the holidays approached in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Those were such turbulent times in this country, as the Cold War raged, civil rights tensions continued, and the Nuclear Age (and color TV) was born. On December 14, 1953, a cold, snowy Monday in Kalamazoo, John “Jack” Reilly and his wife Dorothy celebrated more than color TV, with the birth of a baby boy, a son they named Thomas Bernard Reilly.

Tom was the third of five boys in the Reilly clan, Mike, John, Tom, Bob and Jim, who lived in a home in the Milwood neighborhood. When Tom was little, the family packed up and moved to Arizona then to California for awhile, but returned to Kalamazoo in 1965 when Tom was 11 years old. Tom’s dad worked as a car salesman for DeNooyer Chevrolet then for the State of Michigan, while his mother had the unenviable task of corralling her brood of boys, as all five were born within a 10-year timeframe.

And make no mistake, the Reilly boys were all boy, each and every one of them, and together they ruled the neighborhood around their home on Wheaton Street. While Tom could be a handful, too, he also had a great demeanor, and his Grandma nicknamed him “Mr. Sunshine.” It wasn’t exactly the alter ego he’d hoped for, being the devout fan of superheroes and cowboys, with the Lone Ranger being his favorite. His mom even made him a Batman costume once, and he carried the heart of the Caped Crusader with him the rest of his life.

Tom attended St. Monica’s Grade School, and later Hackett Catholic Central. He also grew into a very tall young man, and soon enough, he added some width to his height: he discovered weightlifting. Just like those bodybuilding ads in the back of his comics, Tom became devoted to building his muscles, which became a lifelong passion for him.

His newfound physique also helped him at the sports he loved so much, including football, baseball and boxing. Tom also found time for a part-time job in high school, working in the kitchen at the Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital, which was called the Kalamazoo State Hospital back then. It was an interesting place to work, and offered a wide variety of opportunities, as well.

After Tom graduated from Hackett in 1972, he took some classes at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, and in 1973 he went to work for the hospital fulltime. He started working in housekeeping, then as a resident care aide, and gradually moved up through the ranks. The name changed to the Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital in 1978, where by then Tom had become the aide supervisor. Over the course of Tom’s long career there, he would become president of the union, and later the safety department director, two posts so perfect for him, looking out for the little guy, protecting them from wrong and harm.

As rewarding as his professional life was, his personal life was so much more so. In the mid-1980s, he met a woman named Nancy Marlow, fell in love, and was soon married. It wasn’t long before Tom was the proud father of two terrific kids, Nicholas Robert Reilly and Sara Marlow Reilly, who filled the big man’s heart with pride.

Tom’s marriage to Nancy ended in 1997, but he wasn’t meant to be alone for long. He soon met a wonderful woman named Kristine, who was a nurse and coworker at KRPH. They began dating, fell in love, and were married on a sweltering day, June 26, 1999, at Comstock United Methodist Church.

Kris brought her son, Jake Denaway, into the marriage, and together she and Tom had Thomas John “TJ” Reilly, too. The families blended seamlessly, and with the humorous Tom around (the biggest kid of all), shenanigans were never in short supply! They camped together in the Upper Peninsula, and complete with Tom’s many dogs, cats and even fish for pets in the home, there was never a dull moment.

For example, during one of Tom’s legendary Fourth of July fireworks extravaganzas, they accidentally set the field behind his brother Bob’s house on fire!

Of course, Tom’s passions extended far beyond Fourth of July hijinx. He loved music, and his eclectic tastes extended to many different genres, but the Beatles were his all-time favorite. He was a trivia champion, and a pop-culture guru, too, and could recite a myriad of movie lines by heart. “Now, GO!!” Tom would boom, in his best, “Alpha-Male” voice, just like the Wizard said in The Wizard of Oz.

Tom didn’t need his booming voice to cut an imposing figure, however. He was a mountain of a man, built through his big frame and countless hours in the gym, pumping iron with his longtime friend, Bobby Ezelle. Tom lifted with one goal in mind, to be as strong as he could be, to be the strongest in the gym, to be the superhero he always wished to be.

Of course, Tom’s strongest muscle was his heart, which he shared with all those around him. He was always honest about how he felt about people, from his friends, like Bobby or Scott Simi, to his foes, too. Once, a shady character approached Tom, asking for change. Tom declined, and the guy told him he’d “just take his wallet instead {motioning as if he had a gun}.” Tom hauled off and levied a haymaker on the guy, knocking him out in one punch!

That was Tom, though. Such a big, courageous man, never afraid to stand up for himself, for others, or for what was right.

Tom was a big man, a man of such incredible strength, courage and charisma. He worked hard for all that he had, and all that he was, a devoted husband, loving father, and loyal friend. Most of all, Tom was the hero he always wished to be, whose legend lives on today in all who knew him.

Tom was preceded in death by his parents and by one brother, John. Surviving are his wife Kris and their 4 children; Sara Marlow Reilly, Nicholas Robert Reilly, Jacob William Denaway, and Thomas John “TJ” Reilly, all of Kalamazoo, , 3 brothers; Mike (Jan) Reilly of Portage, Bob (Holly) Reilly of Parchment, Jim (Dee) Reilly of Kalamazoo, a mother-in-law; Edna Denaway of Comstock; 2sisters’-in-law and 2 brothers’-in-law and their families and many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins. Please visit his personal memory page at www.lifestorynet.com to share a memory or photo of Tom, to sign his guestbook or to make a contribution to the Kalamazoo Humane Society designated for the Shelter Fund.