Born: November 14, 1940
Died: February 26, 2017
Frank “Buck” O’Reilly was born in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, son of Frank D. O’Reilly, Jr., (Yale class of 1936) and Margaret Harmon. Prior to Yale he attended Andover Academy and Lock Haven High School.
At Yale Frank was a member of Davenport and an English major. After graduation he worked at the family owned Lock Haven Express newspaper before moving to Los Angeles where he became a sports reporter for the Associated Press.
Frank returned to his home town Lock Haven in the 1980’s and served as sports information director at Lock Haven University. In 1993 he became co-owner and editor of The Record newspaper, a position he held until 1999. During his tenure with The Record he was recognized for his efforts in resurrecting what at the time was a struggling local newspaper. The paper had not been functioning from a position of economic strength when Buck assumed the financial and editorial responsibilities. He was able to make the paper a successful county newspaper, assuring its economic viability into the future. He was noted for his crisp, concise writing style and an acerbic wit in his weekly Record columns.
After his work with The Record he resumed the position of sports writer for the Lock Haven Express until his retirement.
Frank married Suzanne McConnell in 1993. They had celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary several months prior to Frank’s death. In addition to Suzanne, he is survived by sons Patrick O’Reilly and Andrew B. Stone and daughters Erin O’Reilly, Shelly Stone, Mary Stone Kline and S. Elizabeth Stone Webb; and his sister-in-law Betsy McConnell Hunt.
The family proudly proclaimed in the Lock Haven Express that Frank had been “raised to be an ‘Irish Gentleman’ by his father and grandfather Frank D. Reilly, Sr.” Buck served his community for over 40 years as a dedicated newsman and editor, a community leader, a family man and always the Irish Gentleman.
Memorial services were private at Frank’s wishes. The family suggested that memorial contributions be made to the charity of the donor’s choice.
Robert G. Oliver