Cyril A. Reilly

Born in Peosta, Iowa on August 27, 1920
Departed on June 29, 2008. Resided in Cedar Rapids, IA.

Memorial

Cyril 'Cy' A. Reilly, 87, of 124 Janice Drive NW, died Sunday, June 29, 2008, after an extended illness. Funeral Mass: 10 am Saturday, St. Jude Catholic Church, Cedar Rapids, Father Mark Reasoner officiating. Inurnment: Mount Vernon Cemetery. A vigil will be held at 7 pm Thursday at Cedar Memorial Westside Chapel, where friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. and Saturday after 9 a.m. at the church.
Cy is survived by his wife, Renee 'Rita' Travis Reilly, and one sister, Lucille Donner, as well as many nephews and nieces and their children and grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Lawrence D. and Anna McDonald Reilly and brothers Clem, Lawrence Jr., Elmer, Raphael, Joseph and sisters Marian Frankenreiter, Gertrude Wittstock, and Anne Mosle.
Cy was born August 27, 1920, near Peosta. He graduated from Loras Academy 1937 and College 1941 and the Theological College of the Catholic University of America 1945. He was ordained a priest February 3, 1945, at St. Raphael Cathedral in Dubuque.
He served as associate pastor at St. Martin's Church, Cascade, 1945-1947, as secretary to Archbishop Rohlman briefly in 1947, and was assigned to the facility of Loras College in June 1947. He taught Ethics there 1947-1950, then studied English at the University of Notre Dame, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1954. He taught English at Loras 1954-1971, did audiovisual work at Franciscan Communications Center of Los Angeles in 1972, and was chaplain at Sacred Heart Convent in Cedar Rapids, April 1973 – February, 1974.
In 1974, at his request, he was granted permission to return to the lay state, and on February 8, 1975, he married Renee 'Rita' Travis in Minneapolis.
From 1974 to 1986, Cy was an audiovisual producer and editor at Winston Press, a CBS- owned publishing house in Minneapolis. He and his wife moved to Cedar Rapids in 1994. Cy and Renee collaborated on six photo gift books, four of them on Ireland, one on the biblical story of creation, and one on the seasons with haiku poet Raymond Roseliep.
Many of Cy's photos were published in books, magazines, calendars, and greeting cards. His religious songs were published in various hymnals, missalettes, textbooks, and on records. His best-known hymn is 'We Long for You, O Lord'.
Cy was active at St. Jude's Church as lector, member of the Bible study group, and visitor with Renee at a local nursing home.
Throughout his life, Cy loved meeting and interacting with people. He enjoyed photographing the beauty he saw in them and in nature. He loved the beauty of language he found in the Bible and in secular literature, and especially in poetry, so he made sound-recordings of many biblical passages and secular poems, particularly Irish poems.

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