Stay Connected
The Flynns make it personal
By Elizabeth Thompson Walker
Erin Reilly Flynn ’86 remembers hearing about Holy Cross even as a young child, from her father, the late Philip J. “P.J.” Reilly ’55. Now, thanks to the generosity of Erin and her husband, Thomas J. Flynn ’87, people will hear about her father each year for four years when the P.J. Reilly ’55 Scholarship is awarded to a deserving student through the Holy Cross Fund Scholars Program.
“My dad was always so proud of going to Holy Cross,” Erin said. “He and my mother became engaged while he was there. His biggest thrill was when Tom and I were married in the chapel at Holy Cross. My dad never imagined he’d walk his daughter down the aisle there.”
Reilly grew up in Albany and attended Holy Cross on a Navy ROTC scholarship. He was one of the first lacrosse players at the College. After graduation, the Navy sent him to Rhode Island, Florida, and upstate New York. After he was discharged, he went to work for Kodak in Rochester, and then the company moved him to Ohio, where he and his wife, Patricia, raised their six children. Erin is the youngest.
“Distance, work, and his growing family, kept my dad from being active with Holy Cross, but it was always a special place for him,” Erin said. “When I was in high school, he got more involved with the Holy Cross Alumni Club of Ohio. That’s the great thing about Holy Cross; you can always pick up where you left off.”
Like her father, Erin played lacrosse at Holy Cross. In fact, she was the first women’s lacrosse player to receive a scholarship to the College. Her father took great joy in her years on campus. He faithfully attended her lacrosse games even though he lived in Ohio.
“He was so happy for me,” Erin said. “He felt that he learned such great values at Holy Cross. He wanted me to have the same experience. He made such good friends there. Even after all the years and the distance, his classmates wrote to him when he was sick.”
P.J. Reilly died of cancer in 1994. Erin and Tom decided to honor her father’s memory as his 50th Reunion year approached.
“We committed to support a Holy Cross Fund Scholarship for four consecutive years,” Tom said. “It’s a very personal and immediate way to do something for a student and to honor the memory of Erin’s dad.” Erin enjoyed meeting the student who will hold her father’s namesake scholarship all four years. She has taken her mother with her to the annual reception for donors and scholarship recipients.
“We have been close to Holy Cross geographically and close to alumni in the area, but the scholarship has really made a new connection for us,” Erin said. "My mother and I met Michael, the scholarship recipient. He was very appreciative. His family has been affected by cancer, so I think it was meant to be that our gift would support him. I, too, went to Holy Cross on a scholarship, so it’s important to me to know that we’re helping someone else get an education and to have the Holy Cross experience that my dad, and Tom and I had. Hopefully, he'll do the same thing when he is able."