Tim Reilly had a penchant for working with his hands. Self-employed as a brick mason for many years, he was also an artist who made elaborate frames and sculpted works from wood. He showed his work in Mount Dora, Fla., where he lived for many years, and had recently been selling it on Etsy.
Mr. Reilly, who grew up on Three Mile Harbor Road here and graduated from East Hampton High School in 1965, died of liver failure on March 21 at Clay County Hospital in Ashland, Ala. Recently of Anniston, Ala., he was 78.
Following in the footsteps of his twin brother, Tom Reilly, he enlisted in the Navy in 1967. Both were stationed on a ship off Hawaii that experienced tumultuous waves, and Tom was thrown overboard. Their younger sister, Nancy J. Reilly of Eustis, Fla., recalled that “Tim heard Tom screaming for help. He ran to him and jumped overboard, but couldn’t find him. When he found Tom, he got him up on a rock, but Tom was so weak that Tim couldn’t hold onto him. The Coast Guard had to get Tim out of the water.”
The loss of his twin “affected Tim’s life immensely, right up until he died,” Ms. Reilly said.
He served four years in the Navy. After that he married twice, with both marriages ending in divorce. Linda Larsen, his second wife and the mother of his children, survives. With custody of his three children, Mr. Reilly raised them in Mount Dora between 1970 and 1996.
Timothy Robert Reilly was born in New York City on March 14, 1946, to James Neil Reilly and the former Veronaca Aeillo.
Ms. Reilly recalled her brother as a “jokester who always had a funny comment to say about something.”
He retired to Anniston at the age of 50. There he made a best friend, David Lowe, who was his “caretaker and guardian angel” toward the end of his life, Ms. Reilly said. Mr. Lowe survives.
In addition to his sister, Mr. Reilly leaves his children, Gregory Reilly of Savannah, Ga., Shannon Reilly of Seattle, and Thomas Joseph (T.J.) Reilly of Satellite Beach, Fla., and six grandchildren.
Mr. Reilly was cremated. His ashes are to be scattered at sea this summer and buried next to those of his twin brother in the family plot at Most Holy Trinity Cemetery on Cedar Street.
