Robert Reilly ’57

Robert Reilly ’57 of Fayetteville, Arkansas, died Aug. 3, 2020. He was 84. Bob majored in music and formed a small jazz group called the “King’s Men” at Illinois Wesleyan. He was also a member of the Bloomington-Normal Symphony Orchestra along with another IWU music major, Mary Anne (Cubin) Reilly ’58, a cellist who later became his wife. Bob was a member of Phi Mu Alpha and the Blue Key Honor Society. After graduation, Bob began teaching in Homer, Illinois. He later took part in a three-year graduate fellowship program offered through the National Defense Education Act to pursue master’s and doctoral degrees in the psychology of classroom learning. His career as a college professor started at the State University of Wisconsin in Oshkosh, in the educational psychology department. He later taught at the State University of New York in Oswego, Shippensburg State College and, eventually, the University of Arkansas, where he worked for 30 years. Bob often presented and published his work, including an educational psychology textbook. He stayed connected to music throughout his life, playing clarinet and saxophone in bands in all the places he lived. He and Mary Anne also enjoyed hiking, camping and visiting national parks. He is survived by his wife, two children, 11 grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and three siblings.

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