Margaret Edith Reilly, a secretary at the Montauk School from 1996 to 2017, died on June 19 in St. James. She was 70.
While Mrs. Reilly, who was known as Peggy, had lived all over the country and internationally before her husband, Kevin Reilly Sr., retired from the Air Force, “Montauk was her home,” her son Kevin Jr. wrote, and she loved it “and its people.” Even after a stroke left her disabled, “she refused to consider moving away” from the area she loved so much, her family said.
Her husband, who survives, was an officer in the Air Force, and during his military career the couple lived with their children in Florida, California, Alabama, England, Australia, and Delaware.
Mrs. Reilly had “an uncanny ability to recall birth dates and phone numbers. It’s an inside family joke that she was the family’s human phonebook, even after her first stroke. She had a warm, bubbly personality and never hesitated to say hi to everyone in a restaurant or greet every person with a big smile,” her son wrote.
Born on Nov. 3, 1952, in Queens to Edith and James T. Allen Sr., she was one of nine children and grew up in Williston Park in Nassau County. She and her husband were married on Aug. 2, 1975.
While he was in the service, she was a government employee at various Air Force bases, and then a bank teller before going to work at the Montauk School. “She had a major stroke more than a decade ago but kept working at the school for another five years afterwards,” her son wrote.
He said the stroke inspired her to donate her body to science. “She was always known as a person that would go out of her way to help people, and now she’ll continue that by helping to train new doctors at Stony Brook University.”
Mrs. Reilly “loved throwing parties and opened her door to anyone that could make it,” her family wrote in an announcement of a celebration of her life in Montauk. “In her memory, we have decided to throw a similar party. We’re going to cook some of her favorites — chicken cordon bleu, baked beans, apple pie, etc. — and cater with other favorites from around Montauk.” It will be held at the Montauk Firehouse on Aug. 12 from 3 to 6 p.m.
In addition to her husband and her son, who lives in Astoria, Queens, Mrs. Reilly is survived by her other children, Shannon Olsen of San Diego and Patrick Reilly of Bronxville, N.Y., and by a granddaughter, Julia Olsen. Two brothers, John Allen and Bill Allen, also survive.
Her family has suggested contributions in her memory to the Montauk School, 50 South Dorset Drive, Montauk 11954.
