Louise Martha Reilly, 58, peacefully passed away, in her Quincy, MA home surrounded by family, friends and her beloved cat Devlin, having succumbed to metastatic breast cancer, on March 21, 2020.
Louise was the daughter of Laura (Kaminski) Reilly, predeceased, and John Reilly currently of Yarmouthport, Massachusetts. She is also survived by her step-mother Ruth Finkelstein, her sister Philomena Barboza (Brian Barboza), her nieces Alexa, Meagan Breana and nephew Brenden of Rhode Island.
Louise was proudly born in New ‘Yawk’ City, grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens and spent summers on Cape Cod. As a child, Louise loved to dance in all its forms ballet, tap jazz and improve. She took local classes and later trained with the Martha Graham School of Dance and New York Ballet.
She fed her passion for dance throughout her life but, in 1984, she earned her BA in Psychology from Barnard College, worked for Phoenix House, NY, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office and Planned Parenthood before she moved to Massachusetts. In 1991, she received a Master’s in Social Work from Boston University.
After obtaining her LICSW, Louise was hired as Program Director for the River Street Community program, Mattapan, MA, where she managed the care of HIV and AIDS residents. The emotional stress of social services helped guide Louise, in 1996, to transfer her skills to client services with Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC of Boston, until the recession of 2008. Louise then became eligible to participate in a program to reinvent herself again! This is when she learned new skills for her dream job as a Grant Writer.
Meanwhile, in 2006, Louise purchased a home of her own in Quincy, MA. She also joined the United First Parish Church in Quincy and to practice her new grant writing skills she volunteered to write her first grant to restore the historic bell tower. The church won the grant and Louise was hired as a Grant Manager by Project Hope! Later she became the Foundation Relation Officer for Metro Housing Boston Partnership. Her successful grant writing helped to provide low income families with secure stable housing and self-sufficiency.
Louise lived life to its fullest. She enjoyed eating and cooking food from all ethnicities. She traveled when possible to Cape Cod, parts of Europe and the United States and the Caribbean with friends and family and always dancing. She will be missed by many who loved her.
At a time to be determined Louise will be laid to rest, in a private service, at the Blue Hill Cemetery in Braintree, MA.
Donations can be sent instead of flowers to: the Quincy Animal Shelter or the United First Parish Church, Quincy.
Due to the Coronavirus a memorial service will take place, when possible, at a time to be determined, at the United First Parish Church, Quincy.