Joyce Reilly
Died on Saturday, October 24, 2026, and was reunited with her beloved husband of nearly 60 years, Tom. She also joined her parents, Florence and Earl; her sister, Patricia; brothers, Jack, Tom and Bill; and some of the best cared for dogs to ever grace a home.
A member of the Silent Generation, Joyce was born in 1937 on the Southside of Chicago, at the end of the Great Depression. She navigated a world that went from listening to World War II radio updates, to the televised Moon landing, to streaming movies on a cell phone.
During the course of her 89 years, Joyce travelled extensively with Tom. Together, they visited Europe, Australia, Asia, North Africa and all of North America. After Tom’s death in 2023, she joined her daughter and son-in-law on more travels, including a trip to Rome following the election of fellow Southsider Pope Leo XIV. Like Pope Leo, Joyce was a lifelong White Sox fan, and she and Tom watched and listened to games all summer.
She was also the original Irish washerwoman, and there was never a cleaner house than hers. Joyce had an innate ability to take apart, repair and reassemble any number of objects. She was also adept at painting, wallpapering, hanging shelves, installing ceiling fans and virtually any other home repair and improvement project. She was a hard-working individual and helped instill this ethic – along with kindness and humor – in her daughter.
Services: A visitation and funeral Mass were held for Joyce on Thursday, October 29, 2026, at Little Flower Catholic Church in Richmond Heights, Missouri, followed by an Irish wake. She will be very greatly missed by her daughter, Peggy Reilly Tharp; son-in-law, Matthew Tharp; her devoted dog Biddy; and her niece Jan Valente and the entire Valente family.
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