Lawrence "Pat" Patrick Reilly

Lawrence Patrick (Pat) Reilly

March 17, 1931 - November 30, 2023

92 years old

Pat was born and raised in Minneapolis and died in the Maple Grove Hospital. He is preceded in death by parents, John and Elizabeth (Paar) Reilly; sister, Lois (Charlie) Anderson; brother, Dave Reilly; ex-wife, Catherine (Acker) Reilly; son, Danny Reilly; grandson, Brad Joyce; great grandson, Gabriel Wray; and all our babies lost too soon. Survived by children, Colleen (Jim) Derbis, Kathy (Mike) Joyce, Patty (Dave) Storest, Peggy Dice, Darren (Pam) Reilly; 14 grandchildren; 24 great grandchildren; and significant other, Judy Mickelson.

Pat went to North High School, class of ’49. He later attended night classes, for two years, at the U of M, taking chemistry and calculus, which helped him later at his job at Honeywell.

He worked at Honeywell for 41 years, the first 22 years in metal finishing and the last 20 years in the Environmental Department running the pollution control system. He earned many suggestion awards over the years, for which he received bonuses. His biggest one was $10,000.00 for a job no one else could figure out how to do. When he retired there were 300 people at his retirement party. He was proud of that.

As the leader in his department, he handled all the problems that arose, with the person who was causing the trouble; he didn’t go to the supervisor. He believed everyone deserved a second chance and that all people are good, if given the chance.

He grew up during the depression, sometimes eating oatmeal three times a day. When he was 11 years old he started working at a grocery store for 10 cents an hour. At 15 he got a job at Brix’s Supermarket, cutting meat. One day, Mr. Brix asked if he knew how to drive; he said yes, but didn't know how. He grinded all the gears, hit the side of the garage and when he got on the road he thought he was a hot shot until he almost hit someone, then he straightened out. That was the first time he drove. It was a 1940 Panel truck. At 19 years old, he bought the first car in the family, a 1940 Dodge. He also owned a Mobile gas station for two years on Grant and Nicollet, while he was working at Honeywell.

He was a character and very independent. At age 12, in 1943, he rode his rickety old bike up to Lake Mille Lacs to work for his aunt and uncle, 100 miles away. He said he’d sleep on the side of the road, then get up and ride some more. He even jumped the trains at that age.

Pat played a lot of sports; he was a gifted athlete. He played Fast Pitch softball as a pitcher in his younger days. He played basketball for Honeywell, even played against Bud Grant’s team. He said when anyone got done playing a game with Bud, they came out black and blue. He would elbow you like my dad would. Also, you can't forget he was a hunter and fisherman as well. In the late 50's, he learned how to golf. Dad loved his sports!

Uncle Don Christianson and Dad started to hold a golf tournament in October, with only 36 guys. After two or three years, they thought they should name it. One guy said, “I don’t know, but every time I play in this tournament my game goes down the toilet.” That’s it! They named it the Sani-Flush and it’s still going on to this day, growing to 150 players! It was started in 1962, with the trophy being a wooden toilet seat. The winner with the lowest net score has a name plate put on it. Dad never won it, but his son, Darren won it four times!

Pat also loved his family, too. For him, working sometimes up to two or three jobs at a time, was his way of showing his love for us, along with our yearly vacations to a lake or out to the Black Hills. He wanted us to get out and enjoy life, Travel! He wanted us to do anything we wanted, but do it right! He was interested in what we were doing, but didn’t interfere after age 18.

Pat traveled to almost every state in the union, plus Ireland, Scotland and Wales. He eventually bought a home in Mission, Texas, where he and Judy lived in the winter and came back to Judy’s condo in St. Michael during the summer months. He LOVED Texas and was sad when he sold his house there and moved back to Minnesota.

A memorial visitation will be held from 11 AM to 1 PM on Saturday, Dec. 16th, with memory sharing at 12 noon, at Gearty-Delmore Plymouth Chapel, 15800 37th Ave. N. There will be a private interment at Crystal Lake Cemetery in Minneapolis at a later date.